Five new species associated with the inflorescences of Macaranga trees are described in the Asian genus Dolichothrips Karny. Four of these, chikakoae, eriae, fialae and utae, are from the Malaysian region where they are involved in the pollination of these trees. The fifth, franae, is described from the Hawaiian Islands but is probably introduced from Southeast Asia, and this species appears also to be a pollinator of its host plant. In contrast, little is known of the biology of the many species of Dolichothrips from India. However, D. indicus (Hood) is here interpreted as a variable, polyphagous and widespread species around the tropics, with D. nesius Stannard and D. pumilus Priesner placed as new synonyms. D. reuteri (Karny) from Australia, is also not restricted to Macaranga, and D. flavipes (Moulton) from Taiwan is here considered a new synonym of reuteri. An identification key is provided to 15 species of this genus, but this excludes five species for which specimens were not available. D. citricrurus Moulton, described from Ethiopia, is transferred to Apelaunothrips Karny.

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The tribe Plectrothripini is redefined with examination of its systematic relationships. Keys are provided to the ten genera and forty‐seven species in this tribe; one genus and eighteen species are newly described; one genus and two species are newly synonymized; two genera, Chiridothrips and Eurytrichothrips, are here removed from this tribe. The species of the tribe occur throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world; seventeen species are recorded from the Oriental Region, seventeen species from the Neotropical Region, ten species from the Afrotropical Region, two from Australia and one from the Pacific. They seem to be fungus‐feeders, being found mainly under the bark of trees or on dead branches.

The genus Scirtothrips and related genera in Japan were studied, and the following four genera and eight species recorded: Anascirtothrips okinawanus n. sp., Drepanothrips reuteri Uzel, Scirtothrips albidus n. sp., S. dorsalis Hood, S. flavus n. sp., S. katsura n. sp. and S. machili n. sp., Parascirtothrips fagaceae n. gen. et sp. The male of D. reuteri is recorded from Japan for the first time. Ten genera are recognized in the Scirtothrips genus group, and relationships between these are discussed.

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