Print Fact SheetPlicothrips

Generic diagnosis

Medium sized, macropterous or micropterous Phlaeothripinae. Head longer than wide, vertex with almost no sculpture lines; postocular setae capitate; mouth cone short and rounded; maxillary stylets retracted half way to postocular setae, widely spaced and often in V-shape, with maxillary bridge. Antennae 8-segmented; segment III with 1 sense-cone, IV with 4 sense cones; segment VIII not constricted at base. Pronotum with almost no sculpture; with 5 pairs of major setae, but anteromarginals often short; notopleural sutures complete. Prosternal basantra, ferna and spinasternum well developed; mesopresternum absent medially; metathoracic sternopleural sutures weak or absent.  Fore tarsal tooth present in both sexes but small in female. Fore wing almost parallel sided, without duplicated cilia. Pelta triangular; tergites III‒VI of macropterae and micropterae each with one pair of stout sigmoid wing-retaining setae, II and VII with these setae weaker; tergite IX setae about as long as tube; tube shorter than head. Male tergite IX setae S2 short and stout; sternite VIII with no pore plate.

Relationships

The two species names in this genus possibly represent variants of a single species. This shares most character states with Haplothrips species but the tergites have only a single pair of wing-retaining setae (Bhatti, 1979).

Biology

Both known species live on the grass, Cynodon dactylon, but cameroni was also recorded breeding at Cairo on another grass, Diplachne (Priesner, 1965).

Distribution

The first species listed below is recorded from India through Thailand, to Taiwan, and northern Australia, but the second species, cameroni, is known from Egypt and Sudan (Minaei & Mound, 2008).

Nomenclature

Plicothrips Bhatti, 1979: 306. Type species Hindsiana apicalis Bagnall 1915, by original designation.

This genus comprises two  species that are very similar to each other (ThripsWiki, 2023)

Euro-Mediterranean species
Plicothrips apicalis (Bagnall, 1915)
Plicothrips cameroni (Priesner, 1934)

References

Bhatti JS (1979) Studies in some haplothripine forms. Nouvelle Revue d'Entomologie 9: 305–311.

Minaei K &Mound LA (2008) The Thysanoptera Haplothripini (Insecta: Phlaeothripidae) of Iran. Journal of Natural History 42: 2617–2658.

Priesner, H (1965) A monograph of the Thysanoptera of the Egyptian deserts. Publications de l’Institut Desert d’Egypte 13: 1–549. [Published in 1965, the front cover of the volume bears the date 1960 whereas the back cover indicates 1964. The manuscript went to the publisher on 1st October 1951 - teste Herman Priesner to Laurence Mound at Linz, Austria, in 1966]

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