The increase in Thysanoptera research has led to the description of new species, especially in the Neotropic region (Mound 2002). Similarly, new location records for species considered endemic are common in the current literature, as in the case of Ameranathrips herediae Mound & Marullo and Neohydatothrips hadrosetae Mound & Marullo both described for Costa Rica and found recently in Cuba (González & Suris 2005; González & Castillo 2009). Neohydatothrips hadrosetae was described in Costa Rica from a single specimen in poor condition. A similar case is that of Ethirothrips firmus Hood, which was known only from 5 specimens collected in Brazil and was recently collected in the State of Nayarit in Mexico (Valenzuela-Garcia et al. 2011).
With the development of new technologies to study the geographical distribution of species occurrence, the acquisition of new records is important in order to establish new distribution points of various species. These types of data become an essential tool for modern ecology because they lead to an accurate portrayal of species' distribution and behavior and thereby allow us to predict new locations as potential sites for colonization (Broennimann & Guisan 2008). New localities in Central America for 2 known species are reported in this paper, and comments on variations of their morphological characters are included.
TEREBRANTIA
Aeolothripidae
Erythrothrips Moulton
This genus was redefined by Mound & Marullo (1993). Erythrothrips is similar in morphology to Aeolothrips and it is generally diagnosed by the presence of the distal segment of maxillary palp subdivided and by several pairs of discal setae on abdominal sternites (Mound & Marullo 1996).
Erythrothrips diabolus Priesner Distribution
Type locality: MEXICO, southwestern Mexico, Chapingo. Known distribution: the only known distribution is the type locality and that of the material recently sampled by Johansen in Hidalgo, northeast of Chapingo, Oaxaca. This specimen has the following collection data: MEXICO, Hidalgo, Zacualtipán de Ángeles, Vertiente SW de La Meseta de Zacualtipan, N 20.65° W -98.6°, 1640 m asl. 2-III-1980, 1 ♀ , deposited at Colección Nacional de Insectos, Subcolección Thysanoptera, N° Thys-420.
New record: Costa Rica, 5 ♀ ♀ , San José, 5 km Este de Villa Mills, Sendero Carbón, Trampa de Malaise, (3–20)/I/1996.
Remarks
Specimens of this species are scarce and the species is apparently rare. The new record in Costa Rica indicates that it is possible to find it distributed throughout Central America, but sampling of this species is difficult. This species was first described in the genus Aeolothrips and reclassified by zur Strassen (1978) as Erythrothrips. This species is very similar to Erythrothrips durango, and they differ in the color of antennal segment III, which is brown in the apical section in E. diabolus but yellow in E. durango. This difference is valid only for diagnosing females.
TUBULIFERA
Phlaeothripidae
Phlaeothripinae
Plectrothrips Hood
The genus Plectrothrips was described by Hood (1908). The type species is Plectrothrips antennatus and it is distributed from the USA to Brazil and Paraguay (Mound & Marullo 1996). A dozen species are included in this genus, 7 species are in Brazil and out of these, 6 have been reported for Brazil exclusively (Okajima 1981; Monteiro 2002).
Plectrothrips bicuspis Hood
Distribution
Type locality: BRAZIL, Rondon, Parana (near Paraguayan border), Nov 1952, Fritz Plaumann, 10 ♀ , 9♂ (including holotype) from dead branches. Know distribution: Brazil, Paraná.
New record: only one specimen (1 ♀) collected in Central America, HONDURAS, Patuca, Caño Cayamelito, N 15.82722° W 63.9385°, 07-V-1998, collected in samples of aquatic insects by Pia Paaby.
Remarks
This species was described by Hood (1957) who established this species as “Unique among the New World species in having two stout spurs, instead of one, on the middle tibiae” (Hood 1957, pp. 37). According to the key given by Mound & Marullo (1996) the identification matches the species P. bicuspis, the comparison with the characters proposed by Hood (1957) is consistent with those exhibited by the specimen collected in Honduras except that the width of the head is narrower than in the original description.
SUMMARY
New localities in Central America for Erythrothrips diabolus Priesner and Plectrothrips bicuspis Hood are reported in this paper with comments on variations of morphological characters. New locations records can lead to a better understanding of species dynamics and their capacity to spread.
RESUMEN
Los nuevos reportes de localidades de especies permiten obtener un mejor conocimiento de sus dinámicas y de su capacidad para dispersión. En este escrito se reportan nuevas localidades en Centre América para Erythrothrips diabolus Priesner y Plectrothrips bicuspis Hood, con comentarios sobre variaciones de caracteres morfológicos.
