Haplothrips biroi (Priesner, 1928)

Distinction of H. biroi View in CoL and Neohegeeria dalmatica larvae

Both H. biroi View in CoL and N. dalmatica develop on hosts belong to the Lamiaceae View in CoL family, Ballota nigra View in CoL and Stachys spp. , respectively. The larval body is pale creamy in both species, but in H. biroi View in CoL , the third antennal segment is darker than in N. dalmatica larva II. The main characteristic that differentiates the larvae of H. biroi View in CoL and N. dalmatica is the sculpture of their cuticle. The first larval instar of the former species exhibits a distinct, lumpy sculpture devoid of microtrichia, whereas the latter species is covered with dense microtrichia. The second larval instar’s cuticle is smooth in H. biroi View in CoL and covered by microtrichia in N. dalmatica . Sclerotisation of the body is similar in both analysed species. Setae on the dorsal and ventral sides of the body are shorter in H. biroi View in CoL than in N. dalmatica . Most of the longest dorsal setae of the thorax and abdomen are expanded or knobbed at the apices in N. dalmatica ; thoracal setae in H. biroi View in CoL are expanded or knobbed on pronotum and long spoon shaped at apices on meso- and metanotum, and are similar with those on tergites. Setae D1 on tergite IX are a little shorter than the segment length in H. biroi View in CoL , and longer in N. dalmatica . In both species, setae V2 on segment IX have a forked shape; however, they are much longer in N. dalmatica ( Kucharczyk et al., 2024) .