Tusothrips Bhatti

Tusothrips Bhatti

Tusothrips Bhatti, 1967: 16 Type species Mycterothrips pseudosetiprivus Ramakrishna & Margabandhu

Species of the genus Tusothrips have 8-segmented antennae without a pair of dorso-apical setae on segment I; the head is small with ocellar setae pair I absent, but the mouth cone reaches the mesosternum; the transverse pronotum has two pairs of prominent posteroangular setae (Fig. 32); each abdominal tergum bears a broad craspedum on the posterior margin; sterna III–VI bear a craspedum of broad lobes, and sternal setae S1 and S2 are close together medially on VII (Fig. 31).

Six species are currently listed in this genus (Mound, 2011), but each of these is known from few specimens, and the character states on which they are distinguished may not be reliable. T. sumatrensis (Karny), the senior synonym of the type species of the genus, has a recorded range from India to the Philippines. This species and T. calopgomi (Zhang) from southern China are similar in having a dark marking transversely across the forewing, with the entire clavus equally dark; these two possibly represent the same species. In contrast, the forewings of the other four species are uniformly pale, or with only a weakly shaded mark. Amongst these, T. teinostomus Okajima from Thailand is distinct in having the sensorium on antennal segment VI with an elongate base, and Okajima (1990) also recorded this species from Indonesia and the Philippines. The published illustration of T. atrichotus Reyes, based on three females from the Philippines, implies that the sensorium on segment VI of that species has a narrow base, but recent examination of the holotype (in ANIC) has shown that the base of this sensorium is actually elongate. Therefore, T. atrichotus is here considered to be the same as T. teinostomus syn.n. In two species, T. immaculatus and T. setiprivus, the mesosternal furcal spinula is present, but in T. calopgomi and T. teinostomus this spinula is absent, whereas among the available specimens of T. sumatrensis this structure varies in its development.