Print Fact SheetMonilothrips

Generic diagnosis

Female macropterous. Head wider than long, with a broad posterior reticulate collar, anterior parts not reticulate; not projecting in front of eyes, ocellar region not elevated; four pairs of postocular setae; maxillary palps 2-segmented. Antennae 8-segmented, segment I without paired dorso-apical setae; III and IV each with forked sense cone, IV with an additional slender simple sense cone. Pronotum not strong reticulate, with one pair of anteroangular setae, one pair of prominent posteroangular setae. Mesonotum entire, reticulate, anteromedin campaniform sensilla absent. Metanotum strongly reticulate, median setae close to posterior margin, campaniform sensilla present. Fore wing anterior fringe cilia longer than costa setae; first and second veins with setal rows complete; clavus with four veinal but no discal setae; posterior margin fringe cilia wavy. Prosternal ferna widely divided; basantra membranous and without setae; mesosternal endofurca without spinula, metasternal endofurca transverse without spinula. Legs strongly reticulate, tarsi 2-segmented. Tergites without ctenidia, craspedum entire, covered with strong polygonal reticulation; tergite II without special sculpture; VIII without comb; IX with posterior pair of campaniform sensilla; X median split complete. Sternites without craspedum; II–VII with three pairs of posteromarginal setae; VII with median and submedian setae in front of posterior margin.
Male sternites without pore plates.

Biological data

Breeding on the fronds of various species of fern (Mound et al., 2017), and probably distributed around the world by collectors of ferns.

Distribution data

Widely recorded around the world, from California, Hawaii, South Africa, India and southern China, but possibly African in origin.

Nomenclatural data

Monilothrips Moulton, 1929: 93. Type species Monilothrips kempi Moulton, 1929, by monotypy.

Only one species is placed in this genus (ThripsWiki, 2020), and this is recorded from southern China:

kempi Moulton, 1929: 94.

Relationship data

Thripidae sub-family Panchaetothripinae: this group is represented widely around the world, particularly in tropical areas, and comprises about 40 genera. This genus is unusual because the head of the only species lacks strong reticulate sculpture on the vertex. The genus was segregated to a monotypic Tribe by Wilson (1975), althoug subsequently two further genera were added to the Monilothripini (Zhang et al., 2019). However, Monilothrips was placed in association with Hercinothrips in a morphological analysis by Mound et al. (2001).

References

Mound LA, Marullo R & Trueman JWH (2001) The greenhouse thrips, Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis, and its generic relationships within the sub-family Panchaetothripinae (Thysanoptera; Thripidae). Journal of Insect Systematics and Evolution 32: 1–12.

Mound LA, Matsunaga J, Bushe B, Hoddle MS & Wells A (2017) Adventive Thysanoptera Species on the Hawaiian Islands: New Records and Putative Host Associations. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 49: 17-28.

ThripsWiki (2020) ThripsWiki - providing information on the World's thrips. <http://thrips.info/wiki/Main_Page>

Wilson TH (1975) A monograph of the subfamily Panchaetothripinae (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 23: 1–354.

Zhang SM, Mound LA & Feng JN (2019) Sub-family relationships of Bradinothrips Hood and Parascolothrips Mound (Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Zootaxa 4590 (5): 587–593.