Neohydatothrips catenatus

Recognition data

Distinguishing features

Female fully winged. Body and legs largely yellowish white, but pronotum with 4 pairs of pale grey spots and tergites II – VII with similar paired grey areas laterally, distal antennal segments pale brown. Antennae 8-segmented, III–IV with short forked sensorium. Head with 3 pairs of ocellar setae, pair III on anterior margins of triangle; mouth cone extending across mesosternum. Pronotum transversely striate but with no "blotch", anterior margin with 2 pairs of prominent setae, posteroangular setae 50 microns. Metanotal striations transverse at anterior, closely longitudinal medially. Fore wing with first vein setal row complete but penultimate seta displaced to posterior. Abdominal tergites II–V median setae often with distance between their bases scarcely twice diameter of setal pore; VII–VIII with posteromarginal comb of microtrichia complete.

Related and similar species

Currently, N. catenatus is not distinguished satisfactorily from N. albus. Both species have the mouth cone exceptionally long, but N. albus was described as lacking darker shadings on the pronotum and abdomen. The genus Neohydatothrips is found in many parts of the world and almost 100 species are included. Identification keys are available to 13 species recorded from Central America (Mound & Marullo, 1996), and Stannard (1968) treats 11 species from Illinois, but many of the 35 species described from the USA north of Mexico (Nakahara, 1988) remain poorly defined.

Taxonomic data

Current valid name

Neohydatothrips catenatus (Hood)

Original name and synonyms

• Sericothrips catenatus Hood, 1957: 51

Family placement

Thripidae, Sericothripinae

Biological data

Life history

Presumably breeding on leaves.

Host plants

Collected several times in California from Hyptis emoryi (Lamiaceae).

Tospoviruses vectored

None

Crop damage

None

Distribution data

Area of origin

Western USA

Distribution

California, Arizona