Azaleothrips Ananthakrishnan, 1964

Azaleothrips Ananthakrishnan, 1964: 220. Type species Azaleothrips amabilis Ananthakrishnan 1964, by monotypy.

Note.

The number of sense cones on antennal segments III-IV is a very diagnostic character in many thysanopteran taxa. Especially in Azaleothrips, two species groups were proposed because of two sense cones on III and two or three cones on IV in the Azaleothrips moundi species group, and three and four on antennal segments III-IV, respectively, in the Azaleothrips amabilis species group. These numbers vary between species, but are stable within each species. Furthermore, the macropterous forms in this genus are very common, but three species also have micropterae which usually bear three well-developed sub-basal setae, A. moundi, A. simulans and A. sphaericus sp. nov., that all belong to Azaleothrips moundi species group. The complex sculptures on the body surface are also various ranged from weakly reticulate to strongly reticulate with wrinkles or tubercles inside or along lines. Therefore, these variations are not helpful to give a clear generic diagnosis, but fortunately an excellent one is available in a recent paper (Okajima and Masumoto 2014).