Print Fact SheetCephalothrips

Generic diagnosis

Apterous or macropterous. Body slender; head longer than wide and longer than prothorax; vertex smooth to faintly transversely striate laterally and at base, genae barely serrate; eyes moderately large, oval, usually prolonged ventrally; postocular setae short, not extending beyond hind margin of eyes; ocelli present in macropterae, absent in apterae. Maxillary stylets usually retracted almost to eyes and close together medially, maxillary bridge not present; mouth cone short, broadly rounded at apex. Antennae 8-segmented; segment III with 1, segment IV with 2 sense cones. Pronotal setae usually short, notopleural sutures complete. Prosternal basantra absent; mesopresternum eroded medially, reduced to two small lateral triangles; sternopleural sutures present but short. Metanotum smooth medially. Fore tarsi with a tooth, all tarsi with a recurved ventral hamus at outer distal margin; fore femora with long ventral seta. Wings, if present, not narrowed at middle and fore wings without duplicated cilia. Pelta D-shaped, faintly reticulate; abdominal tergites without sigmoid wing-retaining setae, tergite IX setae shorter than tube; tube shorter than head, anal setae shorter than tube.

Relationships

This genus is not related to the Haplothripini, but Minaei & Mound (2014) treated it as a possible member of the Liothrips-lineage.

Biology

The slender body structure suggests that members of this genus might be associated with grasses and sedges, and this is true for two of the five species listed here. However, albostriatus is known only from two females taken in Morocco from dry woody stems, and the two species from Iran were taken on various plants.

Distribution

The type species of this genus, monilicornis, is known from Norway south across Europe. However, two species listed here are from the Mediterranean area (Minaei & Mound, 2014), and two species are from Iran (Alavi & Minaei, 2021). The other species placed in Cephalothrips are from Szechuan, Kyrgystan, South Africa, Cuba and California.

Nomenclature

Cephalothrips Uzel, 1895: 244. Type species Phloeothrips monilicornis Reuter 1885, by monotypy.

Although 10 species are listed in this genus (ThripsWiki, 2023), they are probably not all congeneric with the type species monilicornis.

Euro-Mediterranean species
Cephalothrips albostriatus zur Strassen, 1968
Cephalothrips bicolor Alavi & Minaei 2021
Cephalothrips corona Alavi & Minaei 2021
Cephalothrips coxalis Bagnall, 1926
Cephalothrips monilicornis (Reuter, 1885)

References

Alavi J, Minaei K (2021) Cephalothrips (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) in Iran with two new species and key to species. Zootaxa 4942 (1): 127–134. 

Minaei K & Mound LA (2014) The Liothrips-lineage of thrips (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) from Iran with the first record of micropterous morph of a Liothrips species. Zootaxa 3889 (1): 107–117.