Willowsia Shoebotham 1917

Genus Willowsia Shoebotham, 1917

This genus is characterized by having 8+8 eyes within black or dark blue patches of pigment, a bidentate mucro with a smooth basal spine, and broad scales mostly pointed apically and with sculpturing ranging from many short spinules to more than two long ribs (Zhang et al. 2011), but lack scales and spines on the dens, antennal subsegmentation, and differentiated “smooth” setae on the inner surface of the hind tibiotarsus.

In addition, all species of Willowsia found in the Americas share the following characters: apical antennal bulb usually unilobed, rarely bilobed; sensilla 2–3 (i.e., main sensilla) of the apical sense organ of Ant. III smooth and blunt; eyes G and H smallest; five interocular setae (pqrst); labral setae 5,5,4 and smooth; subapical and apical setae of the outer maxillary lobe smooth and subequal; labial palp with 5 smooth proximal setae; post labial setae ciliate; unguis with one outer, two lateral and four inner teeth; unguiculus lanceolate, outer edge serrate; tenent hairs spatulate; tenaculum with 4+4 teeth and one large mac; mucro bidentate, basal spine reaching apex of subapical tooth; accessory mic of bothriotrichal complexes on Abd. II–IV unmodified; tergal S-chaetotaxy (Th. II – Abd. VI) ms as 1,0|1,0,1,0,0,0, sens as 2,2|1,2,2,+,3,0 (Abd. IV with high and variable number of sens).