Genera of fungivorous Phlaeothripinae (Thysanoptera) from dead branches and leaf-litter in Australia

Abstract

An illustrated key is provided for the identification of 39 genera of Thysanoptera-Phlaeothripinae with species that live in association with dead branches and leaf-litter in Australia and are considered to be fungus-feeding. Seven of these genera are not previously recorded from this continent, including un-named species of Deplorothrips, Malacothrips, Mystrothrips, Preeriella and Tylothrips, together with Azaleothrips lepidus Okajima and Terthrothrips ananthakrishnani Kudo. A brief generic diagnosis is provided for each genus, together with comments on systematic problems and numbers of species.

Thrips (Insecta, Thysanoptera) of Iran: a revised and updated checklist

“…Members of this tribe are usually phytophagous, but some Haplothrips species are predators on other small arthropods, and one unusual Haplothripine species has been demonstrated to be a predator of the eggs of social wasps (Cavalleri et al 2013). Members of the “ Phlaeothrips lineage” are fungus feeders on fungal hyphae (Mound et al 2013a). Species in the “ Liothrips lineage” are leaf-feeding on the leaves of shrubs and trees, and many of these are involved in the induction of galls on leaves (Ananthakrishnan and Raman 1989).…”

Species-richness in the Oriental fungus-feeding thrips of the genus Azaleothrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae)

“…Species of this genus are commonly found living on dead branches, and sometimes on the prop roots of Banyan trees. Most of the species seem to have somewhat limited distributions, but one species described from northern Thailand, lepidus, was recorded recently from Australia (Mound et al 2013). Moreover, another species described from southern Japan, laevigatus, is here newly recorded from a wide range of tropical and subtropical Southeast Asia.…”

“…In the early 20th century, before World War II, some European authors, such as Bagnall, Karny and Priesner, described many thrips taxa from some parts of this region, but most of those studies are now unreliable. As pointed out by Mound and his colleagues in their Australian phlaeothripid papers (Mound 2008;Mound et al 2013), many taxa had also been described based on low quality, as well as a low quantity of specimens in the early studies on Asian thrips, and it is very difficult to observe detailed character states of such taxa. Description of taxa based on low quality specimens in low quantities can cause various problems.…”

Leaf-litter thrips of the genus Psalidothrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae) from Australia, with fifteen new species

“…The litter of dead leaves under trees across Australia is the habitat of a wide range of fungus-feeding Thysanoptera (Mound et al 2013;Tree & Walter 2012). Some of these thrips feed on fungal spores (Mound 1974;Eow et al 2014) whereas others feed on hyphae or the breakdown products associated with fungal decay (Mound 1972(Mound , 2002.…”