Octurothrips Priesner

Octurothrips Priesner

The only species in this genus, O. pulcher, is known only from Australia, where it is widespread in leaf litter of the dry country west of the Great Divide between South Australia and central Queensland. It shares a very elongate tenth abdominal segment (Fig. 32) with taxa such as Baenothrips and Stephanothrips, but the pelta is different in structure.

Diagnosis. Body tuberculate-reticulate; head with cheeks rounded, converging to base; eyes large dorsally but not present ventrally; maxillary stylets retracted to eyes, scarcely 1/3 of head width apart; antennae 8-segmented but VI–VIII closely joined, III with no sensoria, IV with 2 sensoria; pronotum with only epimeral setae welldeveloped, no notopleural sutures; basantra large; mesopraesternum complete, slender; no sternopleural sutures; fore tarsi without tooth; fore wings, if present, narrow, no duplicated cilia; pelta broad; abdominal tergites II–VII each with two pairs of broad wing-retaining setae in macropterae; tergite IX at least twice as long as VIII; tube slightly longer than head, anal setae more than twice as long as tube; male sternite VIII without pore plate.