Print Fact SheetTusothrips

Generic diagnosis

Female macropterous. Head wider than long, mouth cone long and pointed, maxillary palps 3-segmented; eyes large with 5 pigmented facets; ocellar setae I absent, III on margins of triangle; five or six pairs of postocular setae. Antennae 8-segmented, segment I without paired dorso-apical setae; III and IV with sense-cones forked, III–VI with rows of microtrichia on both surfaces. Pronotum with setae prominent, four pairs along anterior margin, four pairs of posteromarginals, two pairs of long posteroangular setae. Mesonotum anterior campaniform sensilla present; median setal pair far from posterior margin. Metanotum irregularly reticulate; median pair of setae behind anterior margin; campaniform sensilla present on posterior half. Fore wing both veins with few, widely spaced but large setae. clavus with five veinal and one discal setae; posteromarginal fringe cilia wavy. Prosternal ferna almost complete; basantra membranous, without setae; prospinasternum broad and transverse; endofurca with prominent spinula. Metasternal endofurca without spinula. Tarsi 2-segmented. Tergites without ctenidia; II–VIII with broad craspeda, median setae minute; IX with anterior campaniform sensilla present; X with median split almost complete. Sternites with lobed craspedum, without discal setae; III–VII with three pairs of posteromarginal setae, II with two pairs, median pair on VII in front of margin.
Male sternites with no pore plates, tergite IX with drepanae.

Biological data

Precise host associations have not been established for any species in this genus, but breeding probably occurs on leaves rather than in flowers.

Distribution data

The four species in this genus are all recorded between India, southern China and northern Australia.

Nomenclatural data

Tusothrips Bhatti, 1967: 16. Type species Mycterothrips pseudosetiprivus Ramakrishna & Margabandhu, 1936, by monotypy; a synonym of Anaphothrips sumatrensis Karny.

Of the four species listed in this genus (ThripsWiki, 2020) only one is known from China:  

sumatrensis (Karny, 1925: 27). (Anaphothrips)

Relationship data

Thripidae sub-family Thripinae: this is a diverse group involving more than 230 genera. Females of Tusothrips share with females of Rhamphothrips and Exothrips the unusual condition of setae S1 and S2 on sternite VII being particularly close together medially. However, Tusothrips species are very different in the large number of prominent setae on the pronotum.

References

Mound LA & Tree DJ (2011) New records and four new species of Australian Thripidae (Thysanoptera) emphasise faunal relationships between northern Australia and Asia. Zootaxa 2764: 35–48.

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