Introduction

Pakistan provides a rich fauna of thrips probablybecause of the large agricultural area (70% of the landsurface). Despite various insect pests threats, thethrips as sucking pest have increased the overalldamage by combining their share with white flies andjassid, which ultimately has resulted in wide spreaduse of insecticides. We still are at a stage that becauseof insufficient data available on thrips fauna are notable to identify even the most abundant species. In anumber of surveys, which have been initiated particu-larly since 1997, efforts have been made to study thisneglected group in more details to provide a clearpicture of the thrips status in our agriculture. As thripswere comprehensively collected from all parts ofPakistan to pool up the fauna. It was quite evident thatcertain species were only restricted to particular areasand their occurrence could not be noticed elsewhere.The genus Neolimothrips is one of such collectionsthat restricted to Azad Jammu and Kashmir, no indivi-duals of it could ever be collected from any otherplace.

This genus Neolimothrips belongs to the subfamilyThripinae, tribe Chirothripini, the other member genusof this tribe are Chirothrips Haliday, 1836; Gnomo-

nothrips Ramakrishna & Margabandhu, 1939; Neo-corynothrips Ramakrishna & Margabandhu, 1939;Neolimothrips Shumsher, 1942; Sciothrips Bhatti,1969; Sorghothrips Priesner, 1936. In the present in-vestigations, it has been recorded on Jaman (Eugeniajamobolana) from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan.Besides many other records of thrips from AzadJammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, the genus Neolimoth-rips along with a single species N. binervis is nowknown to occur in this region. As it has been recordedfor the first time from Pakistan, therefore completedescription of it is provided with information on itsdistribution and habitat.

Ananthakrishnan and Sen (1980) provided a key tothe tribe Chirothripini and listed six genera. The genusNeolimothrips constituted two species. Shumsher(1942) from India reported Neolimothrips Shumsherwith the type-species Neolimothrips brachycephalusShumsher and these have been utilized for identifi-cation.

Materials and Methods

Thrips were collected from various localities ofAzad Jammu and Kashmir during 2001-2002. Theseincluded crops, vegetables, trees, ornamental plants,and shrubs. Thrips were dusted on white paper sheetsand then with the help of moistened camel brush putin 75% alcohol containing a drop of glycerin so as to

ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCHVol. 34, No. 1, pp. 55-57, March 2004

Description of Neolimothrips binervis (Kobus) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae:Chirothripini) from Pakistan, with a New Locality Record

UMAR, Muhammad1, Waseem AKRAM*, Jhong-Kyoung CHOI and Jong-Jin LEE1Department of Agri. Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, PakistanInstitute of Agri. Science & Technology, Chonbuk, National University, Chonju, Korea

ABSTRACT Genus Neolimothrips with a single species N. binervis has been collected, identifiedand described for the first time from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. Redescription andillustration of the key characters of the species are provided. The genus and the only collectedspecies can easily be identified and separated on the basis of head protruding in front of eyes andantennal segments 3-4 with simple sense cones.

Key words : Neolimothrips, Thripidae, Thysanoptera, Pakistan

*Corresponding authorE-mail: apwaseem18@yahoo.com, Tel : 82-63-270-2528

keep the specimen soft and tender till the time theywere processed for permanent mounting. Procedurefor mounting refers to the one adopted by Palmer etal. (1992), except for that the individuals with expand-ed body parts such as antennae, wings and legs werefinally mounted in Hoyer’s medium and covered witha slip. The slides so prepared were then kept at atemperature of 35�C in slide drying oven for almosttwo days. This process was equally found good forremoving air bubbles that develops in most of theslides.

After drying the specimen were identified with thehelp of available literature of Ananthakrishnan andSen (1980), and Shumsher (1942). Comprehensive de-scription of the genus and species has been providedfor future references. Illustrations were made by pro-jecting the specimens on 21 inches colour T.V. throu-gh Swift Microscope M 3300 with camera at variousmagnifications of 10×, 40×, 100× and 400×.

Taxonomic Account

Genus Neolimothrips ShumsherLimothrips Haliday, 1836, Entomol. Mag: 3.Bregmatothrips Hood, 1912, Proc. Bio. Soc. Wash.,

25: 66. Neolimothrips Shumsher, 1942, Ind. J. Ent., 4(2):

118.

Diagnosis. Body elongate, slender and unsculptur-ed. Head as long as broad produced into a four-tippedprocess in front and between the eyes. Eyes flat; ocellipresent; ocellar setae three pairs. Cheeks longer thaneyes, converging anteriorly. Antennae 8-segmented,short; antennal segment two often produced exteriorlyat apex; 3-4 with simple sense cones dorso-lateraland towards the apical margin; style shorter than sixthantennal segment. Mouth cone long and narrow, al-most reaching posterior margin of prosternum; maxil-lary palpi long, slender and two segmented.

Pronotum slightly longer than head. Posteroangularsetae two pairs and conspicuous. Forewings with twolongitudinal veins. Abdomen terminating into more orless conical appearance and with well-developeddistal setae.

Neolimothrips binervis (Kobus)Oxythrips binervis Kobus, 1906, Sug. Por. Java.

Dev: 278.Neolimothrips binervis Kobus, 1906, Sug. Por. Java.

Dev: 278.Bregmatothrips binervis Karny, 1926, Ent. Mem.

Dept. Agri. Ind. 9: 205.

FEMALE (Macropterous)Body brown, head and abdomen darker. Eyes black,

ocelli orange-yellow with irregularly shaped marooncups. Antennal segment 1-2 and 6-8 concolorouswith head; 3-5 yellow. Legs light yellow with dorso-lateral margin of all femora broadly dark; fore tibiayellowish, middle and hind dark brown at base, yel-low at apex; all tarsi yellowish. Thorax light brown;forewings pale yellow. All body setae hyaline yellow.Ovipositor orange brown.

Head. As long as broad, projecting in front of eyes.Eyes more or less equal to cheeks. Posterior ocellivery close to posterior margin of eyes, fore ocellusheld distinctly behind the fore margin of head; ocellarsetae 3 pairs; anteocellar setae two pairs and almost ofuniform length; interocellar setae well-developedlong, on the outer margin of the ocellar triangle; post-ocular setae 5-pairs, 1 prominent, longer than all andalmost placed between posterior ocelli (Fig. 1a).Cheeks parallel, finely crenulate. Antennae 8-seg-mented 3-4 with simple sense cones (22.85 µm) (Fig.1c). Mouth cone long, narrow, approaching base ofprosternum (30.25 µm); maxillary palpi 2-segment-ed, one shorter than two.

Thorax. Pronotum slightly broader, longer thanhead; anteroangular one pair and curved; discal setaesmaller and scattered; posteromarginal three pairs,long, slender; posteroangular two pairs and long.Metanotal sculpture (MNS) broadly reticulated tostriated without any sculpture beyond mid to distalarea and with only few broadly separated horizontalstriae; median metanotal setae at the anterior margin,with distance separating the two greater than thedistance from lateral pair of setae; Campaniform sen-sillae present (Fig. 1b). Forewings with two longitu-dinal veins; 24 costal, eight upper vein and 11 lowervein setae; wings with posterior margin ciliary fringewavy. Fore and hind legs slightly larger than Mesolegand with irregular setae; hind tibia with regular rowsof four long setae; tarsi 1-segmented (Fig. 1d).

Abdomen. Broader in middle as broad as mesono-tum, tapering towards tip. Abdominal tergum eightwithout posteromarginal dorsal comb; Terga9-10 withlong, slender setae intermixed with smaller. Ovipo-sitor well developed.

Material Examined. AJK 4♀ 02-XI-2001, Jaman(Eugenia jamobolana).

Entomological Research, 34(1), March 200456

Distribution. Pakistan (new record), India.Remarks. This species has been recorded for the

first time from Pakistan and a single female specimenhas been deposited in the Insectary, Department ofAgri-Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisala-bad, Pakistan for future references while remainingthree in personal collection of the collector. Someminor differences have been recorded, as the mouth isclose to the base of prosternum but does not surpass it,lower vein setae are 11 in number as against 10 re-ported by Ananthakrishnan and Sen (1980).

References

Ananthakrishnan, T.N., and S. Sen, 1980. Taxonomy of

Indian Thysanoptera. Zool. Surv. Ind. Hand book. Ser. 1,234pp.

Karny, H.H., 1926. Studies on Indian Thysanoptera. Agric.Res. Ins. PUSA. 9(6): 187-238.

Palmer, J.M., 1992. Thrips (Thysanoptera) from Pakistan toPacific: A review. Bull. Brit. Mus. Nat. Hist. (Ent.) 61(1):1-76.

Palmer, J.M., L.A. Mound, and G.J. du Heaume, 1992. I Iguides to insects of importance to man, Thysanoptera.Int. Inst. Ent. Hist. Mus. 1-73.

Shumsher, S., 1942. A contribution to our knowledge ofIndian Thysanoptera. Ind. J. Ent. 4(2): 111-135.

Shumsher, S., 1946. Studies on systematics of Indian Thy-sanoptera-Terebrantia. Ind. J. Ent. 7(1-2): 147-188.

(Received 12 March 2004; Accepted 23 March 2004)

Umar et al. : Neolimothrips binervis 57

a)

b)

c) d)

Fig. 1a-d. Neolimothrips binervis: a) Head, b) MNS, c) Antenna, d) Hind tibia and tarsus. *Head tilted few degrees towardsright during slide preparation.