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Research Article
The genus Apterygothrips Priesner (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae, Haplothripini) from China, with one new species
expand article infoLihong Dang‡, Linpeng Zhao§, Yanqiao Li‡, Gexia Qiao|
‡ Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong, China
§ Shaanxi Changqing National Nature Reserve, Changqing Jiayuan, Hanzhong, China
| Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
¶ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Corresponding author: Gexia Qiao ( qiaogx@ioz.ac.cn )

Academic editor: Elison Fabricio B. Lima
© 2022 Lihong Dang, Linpeng Zhao, Yanqiao Li, Gexia Qiao.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Dang L, Zhao L, Li Y, Qiao G (2022) The genus Apterygothrips Priesner (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae, Haplothripini) from China, with one new species. ZooKeys 1112: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1112.85902
ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3F7DDC24-3BE3-4798-841C-3622FF3C5F0F
Open Access

Abstract

The genus Apterygothrips Priesner is a group of mainly wingless species in the tribe Haplothripini. The genus is diagnosed here based on the three species known from China, including A. flavescens Dang & Qiao sp. nov. collected from bases of grass in Tibet. An illustrated identification key to the three species from China is provided and the CO1 barcode sequence is given for the new species.

Keywords

Apterygothrips flavescens, CO1, Haplothripini, key, new species

Introduction

Species of Apterygothrips Priesner in the tribe Haplothripini are distributed worldwide and almost always wingless. Although there are now 39 species listed in this genus (ThripsWiki 2022), it has always been a weakly diagnosed group that is closely related to the huge genus Haplothrips. Species of Apterygothrips cannot be distinguished from wingless Haplothrips species, except for antennal segment IV bearing two or three sense cones and pelta trapezoidal or hemicircular. In Haplothrips species, antennal segment IV usually bears four sense cones and the pelta is triangular or with lateral lobes. Moreover, biological information about species of this genus is often unclear, with species likely to be phytophagous, fungus-feeding or predatory. Three species living on green plant tissues were described from Spain and Israel by zur Strassen (1966): A. longiceps zur Strassen on young shoots of Erica arborea, A. piceatus zur Strassen in Crataegus flowers and A. priesneri zur Strassen on leaves of Pinus halepensis. In contrast, Mound and Wells (2015) recorded A. sparsus Mound & Walker as collected together with large populations of mites, suggesting that it may be predatory. Some species of the genus from the Asian region are known from dead leaves and branches (Bhatti and Mehra 1994; Bhatti 1997; Okajima 2006) and may possibly be fungus-feeding. The genus Apterygothrips remains complicated, and thrips workers simply placed species of Haplothripini with reduced wings and antennal segment IV with 2 or 3 sense cones in this poorly-defined genus. Four species of Apterygothrips are recorded from New Zealand, but each of these is known to produce macropterae although only in very low numbers (Mound and Walker 1986). The genus needs more evidence, such as combining morphological characters with molecular data, to confirm the relationship of its members as a monophyletic group.

At least eight species of Apterygothrips are listed from Asia (ThripsWiki 2022), only two of which were recorded from China prior to this study: A. brunneicornus Han and A. haloxyli Priesner (Han et al. 1991; Han 1997). As part of ongoing research on Haplothripini from China, we focused, in this study, on the wingless species. Three such species are recognized here, including the two named above and one new species. The new species is placed in the genus Apterygothrips because of the following major structures: slender body, wings absent, antennal segment III with one outer sense cone, antennal segment IV with two outer sense cones, head longer than wide, postocular setae well developed, pronotal notopleural sutures complete, basantra broader than long, pelta hemicircular and anal setae slightly shorter than tube. Because of these characters the new species could not be considered to belong to other associated genera such as Haplothrips, Karnyothrips, Podothrips and Xylaplothrips. The new species, Apterygothrips flavescens Dang & Qiao sp. nov., is described here and illustrated, and a key to the three Apterygothrips species from China is also provided.

Materials and methods

The descriptions, photomicrograph images and drawings were produced from slide-mounted specimens with an Olympus BX53 and drawing tube. The abbreviations used for the pronotal setae are as follows: am – anteromarginal, aa – anteroangular, ml – midlateral, epim – epimeral, pa – posteroangular. The unit of measurement in this study is the micrometre. The genomic DNA of Apterygothrips flavescens Dang & Qiao sp. nov. was extracted from single specimens following the standard protocol of DNeasy kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). The CO1 sequence was amplified using primers LCO1490 and HCO2198 (Mound et al. 2010). Sequence was assembled by Seqman II (DNAstar, Inc., Madison, WI, USA) and then aligned using Clustal W.

All specimens studied here are deposited in the School of Bioscience and Engineering, Shaanxi University of Technology (SUT), Hanzhong, China, and in the National Zoological Museum of China (NZMC), Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Taxonomy

Apterygothrips Priesner

Apterygothrips Priesner, 1933: 153. Type species: Apterygothrips haloxyli Priesner, 1933.

Diagnosis

Micropterous or apterous (rarely macropterous). Body uniformly brown or bicolored. Head longer than wide, eyes normal or small, ocelli small or absent, postocular setae well developed, pointed or capitate at apex; stylets about one third of head width apart, maxillary bridge present. Antennae eight-segmented, antennal segment III with one or two sense cones, IV with two or three. Pronotum usually smooth, with five pairs of major setae, sometimes am or (and) ml reduced, notopleural sutures complete; basantra present; mesopresternum boat-shaped or eroded medially; metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent. Fore tarsal tooth small or absent. Pelta trapezoidal or hemicircular; tergites II–VII with or without two pairs of weak, wing-retaining setae; tube shorter than head.

Key to Apterygothrips species from China

1 Body bicolored, with pterothorax yellow flavescens Dang & Qiao, sp. nov.
– Body uniformly brown 2
2 Major setae pointed at apex; antennal segment IV with 1+2 sense cones; fore tarsal tooth absent brunneicornus Han
– Major setae capitate at apex, or at least epimeral setae expanded; antennal segment IV with 1+1 sense cones; fore tarsal tooth present haloxyli Priesner

Apterygothrips brunneicornus Han

Figs 1–5, 21

Apterygothrips brunneicornus Han, 1991: 337.

Comments

This species was described by Han et al. (1991) from Sichuan Province and Tibet based on two females. In the present study, we checked the two type specimens. They were squashed (Fig. 1), but fortunately the major characters could be seen. Apterygothrips brunneicornus is similar to A. flavescens Dang & Qiao sp. nov. in having major setae pointed (Figs 2, 3), and it comes from the same location: Tibet. It can be distinguished by having body uniformly brown (Fig. 1), antenna brown with segment III paler at base (Figs 1, 4), antennal segment IV with 1+2 sense cones, fore tarsal tooth present (Fig. 5), pronotum with five pairs of well-developed setae (Fig. 2) and by its pelta shape (Fig. 21).

Figures 1–5. 

Apterygothrips brunneicornus. Holotype female (1–4) 1 adult 2 head, pronotum and fore legs 3 tergites IX–X 4 antenna; paratype female (5) 5 paratype female: head, pronotum and fore legs. Scale bars: 100 μm.

Apterygothrips flavescens Dang & Qiao, sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/7FB37E68-5A47-4448-AD7C-319BCE46BE3C
Figs 6–13, 14–20

Material examined

Holotype. ♀ (SUT), China, Tibet, Lhasa City, Lhasa Nanshan Park, from base of grass, 03.viii.2019, L.H. Dang and L.P. Zhao. Paratypes. 1♀3♂ (SUT), same data as holotype.

Diagnosis

Apterous, body bicolored, with pterothorax yellow (Figs 14, 15); major setae pointed at apex. Head longer than wide, postocular setae shorter than eye (Figs 6, 7); pronotal am and ml minute, other three pairs of major setae well developed (Figs 6, 7); mesopresternum reduced to two small, lateral triangular plates, completely eroded medially (Fig. 9); fore tarsal tooth absent (Figs 6, 7, 16); Pelta hemicircular (Figs 10, 20); tergites II–VII without wing-retaining setae (Figs 11, 19); tube shorter than head, anal setae slightly shorter than tube (Figs 12, 13, 17, 18).

Figures 6–13. 

Apterygothrips flavescens Dang & Qiao sp. nov. 6 head, pronotum and fore leg, female 7 head, pronotum and fore leg, male 8 antenna 9 mesopresternum 10 pelta 11 abdominal tergite V 12 abdominal tergites IX–X, female 13 abdominal tergites IX–X, male.

Description

Holotype. Female aptera. Body bicolored (Fig. 14), head and abdominal segments II–X brown, meso-, metathorax and pelta pale yellow, prothorax brownish yellow, color between head and pterothorax. All legs yellow with outer margins brown. Antennal segments I–II and VIII brown, III yellow, IV–VII gradually yellow to brownish, VIII brown. Abdominal pelta yellow (Fig. 20), concolorous with pterothorax, segments II–X uniformly brown. Body setae hyaline.

Figures 14–21. 

Apterygothrips spp. A. flavescens Dang & Qiao sp. nov. (14–20) 14 adult, female 15 adult, male 16 head, pronotum and fore legs 17 tergites IX–X, female 18 tergites IX–X, male 19 tergites V–VI 20 pelta; A. brunneicornus (21): 21 pelta. Scale bars: 100 μm.

Head. Head 1.6 times as long as wide (Figs 6, 16); dorsal surface almost smooth; ocelli absent; eyes not prolonged ventrally, postocular setae well developed but shorter than eyes, pointed at apex (Figs 6, 16); cheeks weakly rounded. Mouth-cone rounded, maxillary stylets retracted into postocular setae, about half of head width apart at middle (Fig. 16). Antenna 8-segmented, sensoria small, III with 0+1, VI with 1+1, V with 1+1 (Fig. 8).

Thorax. Pronotum almost smooth, notopleural sutures complete (Fig. 6); am and ml minute, other three pairs of major setae well developed, pointed at apex, epim the longest (Fig. 6); mesopresternum reduced to two small, lateral triangular plates, completely eroded medially (Fig. 9); metanotum smooth, metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent. All legs normal, without fore tarsal tooth (Figs 6, 16).

Abdomen. Pelta smooth and hemicircular, with a pair of campaniform sensilla (Figs 10, 20); abdominal tergites II–VII without wing-retaining setae (Figs 11, 19); tergite IX setae developed, but all shorter than tube, pointed at apex (Fig. 12); tube about 0.5 times as long as head, 1.6 times as long as basal width, anal setae slightly shorter than tube (Fig. 17).

Measurements (holotype female in microns). Body length 1580. Head length 175, width across eyes 110; eye length 50, postocular setae length 35. Antenna length 265, segments I–VIII length (width) 25(30), 35(25), 35(20), 35(25), 35(20), 30(20), 25(20) and 20(10), sensoria on segment III length 10. Pronotum length 130, width 155, length of pronotal setae: am 5, aa 15, ml 5, epim 30, pa 25. Pelta length 65, width 125; tergite IX posteromarginal setae S1–S3, 65, 80, 75; tube length 80, basal width 50, apical width 30; anal setae length 75.

Male aptera . Very similar to female (Fig. 15), fore legs without fore tarsal tooth (Fig. 7); abdominal tergite IX setae S2 short and stout (Figs 13, 18), sternites without a pore plate.

Measurements (paratype male in microns). Body length 1225. Head length 160, width across eyes 105; eye length 50, postocular setae length 30. Antenna length 250, segments I–VIII length (width): 25(25), 35(20), 30(20), 30(20), 30(20), 30(20), 25(20) and 20(10), sensoria on segment III length 10. Pronotum length 100, width 125, length of pronotal setae: am 5, aa 15, ml 5, epim 20, pa 10. Pelta length 45, width 95; tergite IX posteromarginal setae S1–S3, 70, 20, 85; tube length 75, basal width 50, apical width 25; anal setae length 75.

CO1 sequence

It includes 1536 bp with the GenBank accession number ON350971.

Etymology

The Latin name “flavescens” refers to the yellow pterothorax of the new species.

Comments

The new species, A. flavescens Dang & Qiao sp. nov., is similar to A. bicolor Johansen and A. dempax Bhatti & Ananthakrishnan in having a bicolored body. But it differs in having head and abdominal tergites II–X brown, pterothorax and pelta pale yellow, prothorax brownish yellow and intermediate in color between head and pterothorax, and major setae pointed at apex. In A. bicolor from Mexico, the head, prothorax, mesothorax and apical two thirds of the tube are brown, the metathorax, abdominal segments I–IX and the basal third of the tube are pale yellow, and the major setae are expanded at the apex (from original description, Johansen 1982). In A. dempax Bhatti & Ananthakrishnan from India, the body is almost yellow except for abdominal tergites IX–X or only the tube brown, and the major setae are expanded at the apex (from original description, Bhatti and Ananthakrishnan 1978).

Apterygothrips haloxyli Priesner

Apterygothrips haloxyli Priesner, 1933: 1.

Comments

This species was described by Priesner (1933) from Egypt, based on specimens collected on fallen petals of Haloxylon schweinfurthi. It was first recorded from China (Ningxia Autonomous Region) by Han (1997). Here, one female and one male identified by Han and four females and one male from Inner Mongolia were studied. Apterygothrips haloxyli can be distinguished from the other Chinese species by having major setae capitate at apex.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Laurence Mound (CSIRO, Australia) for his critical comments and English revision. This work was supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (No. 31702042), the Key Project of Natural Science Basic Research program of Shaanxi Province (2019JZ-34), the Young Talent Fund of the University Association for Science and Technology of Shaanxi, China (20180209) and the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program [Grant No. 2019QZKK0501].

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