Chirothrips

Male and female of Chirothrips manicatus, from CSIRO.

Belongs within: Thripidae.

Chirothrips is a cosmopolitan genus of thrips whose members are all found living in grass flowers. Each individual thrips develops within a single floret on the grass's flower-stalk, and individuals within a species may vary in size depending on the nutritional quality of the host floret (Mound & Marullo 1996).

Characters (from Mound & Marullo 1996): Pronotum trapezoidal, posterior margin at least 1.5 times as wide as anterior margin; sense cones on antennal segments III–IV simple, not forked; antennal segment II usually strongly asymmetric, external margin often produced into a point; mesofurca well-developed, T-shaped, invaginated medially and with paired lateral flanges or, if mesofurca reduced, then metanotum and ventral surface of head with numerous short stout setae.

<==Chirothrips Haliday 1836 MM96 [=Chirtothrips (l. c.) G28]
    |--*C. manicatus (Haliday 1836) [=Thrips (*Chirothrips) manicata] MM96
    |--C. ah Girault 1929 G29
    |--C. atricorpus Girault 1927 G27
    |--C. dorsalis MM96
    |--C. falsus Priesner 1925 MM96
    |--C. frontalis MM96
    |--C. orizaba Hood 1938 MM96
    |--C. pallidicornis M83
    |--C. patruelis MM96
    |--C. priesneri Hood 1949 MM96
    |--C. productus MM96
    |--C. pubescens Hood 1949 MM96
    |--C. ruthae MM96
    |--C. sericatus Hood 1949 MM96
    |--C. simplex MM96
    |--C. spinosus Moulton 1946 MM96
    |--C. texanus MM96
    `--C. vestis MM96

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[G27] Girault, A. A. 1927. Thysanoptera nova Australiensis from Queensland. Privately published (reprinted Gordh, G., A. S. Menke, E. C. Dahms & J. C. Hall. 1979. The privately printed papers of A. A. Girault. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 28: 213).

[G28] Girault, A. A. 1928. Some Insecta and a new All Highness. Privately published (reprinted Gordh, G., A. S. Menke, E. C. Dahms & J. C. Hall. 1979. The privately printed papers of A. A. Girault. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 28: 225-228).

[G29] Girault, A. A. 1929. New pests from Australia. VI. Privately published (reprinted Gordh, G., A. S. Menke, E. C. Dahms & J. C. Hall. 1979. The privately printed papers of A. A. Girault. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 28: 266-269).

[M83] Martin, N. A. 1983. Miscellaneous observations on a pasture fauna: An annotated species list. DSIR Entomology Division Report 3: 1-98.

[MM96] Mound, L. A., & R. Marullo. 1996. The thrips of Central and South America: an introduction (Insecta: Thysanoptera). Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1-487.