Generic diagnosis

Small to medium sized, macropterous or micropterous Phlaeothripinae. Head slightly longer than wide, widest across genae behind large eyes; postocular setae small, with blunt to pointed apices; genae with minute grooves; mouth-cone short; maxillary stylets retracted to postocular setae, about one-fifth of head width apart with stout maxillary bridge. Antennae 8-segmented; segment III with 2 or 3 sense cones, IV with 2, 3 or 4 sense cones; VIII slightly constricted basally. Pronotum with little sculpture, notopleural sutures complete; pronotal anteromarginal and midlateral setae reduced. Prosternal basantra present, ferna well developed; mesopresternum complete but narrow medially; metathoracic sternopleural sutures long but sometimes indistinct. Fore tarsal tooth present in both sexes, small in female. Fore wings weakly constricted medially, with duplicated cilia. Pelta triangular without sculpture; tergites II‒VII each with two pairs of wing-retaining setae, reduced in micropterae; tube shorter than head. Male with tergite IX setae S2 short and stout, sternite VIII without pore plate.

Nomenclatural data

Bagnalliella Karny, 1920: 41. Type species Cephalothrips yuccae Hinds 1902, by monotypy.

Although nine species are listed in this genus, two of them probably need to be placed in some other genus (ThripsWiki, 2022).

Australian species
Bagnalliella yuccae (Hinds, 1902: 194)

Relationship data

A member of the Phlaeothripinae - Haplothripini, and distinguished from Haplothrips mainly by the presence of small grooves on the lateral margins of the head.

Distribution data

Two species that are listed in this genus, one from New Guinea and the other from South Africa, are not congeneric with the remaining seven species. These seven are all from Yucca plants in western America, with B. yuccae widely distributed by the horticultural trade. This species has been recorded from decorative Yucca plants in Australia (Tree 2010).

Biological data

These thrips feed and breed on Yucca species, usually toward the base of the leaves. The populations introduced to Australia have been shown to be remarkably variable in the number of sense cones on the third and fourth antennal segments (Tree 2010). This variation suggests that some of the six other species described from western America may not really be different from yuccae.

References

Tree DJ (2010) Intrapopulation variation in an Australian population of the North American thrips, Bagnalliella yuccae (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), a new record from Australia. Florida Entomologist 93 (3): 346–351.

ThripsWiki (2022) ThripsWiki - providing information on the World's thrips. Available from: http://thrips.info/wiki/ (Accessed 15.iii.2022)