Family PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE

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Introduction

This is the largest of the Thysanoptera families, with about 3500 species in 450 genera, and many more taxa remaining undescribed in the tropics. Two sub-families are recognised, the Idolothripinae with about 700 species in 80 genera worldwide and the Phlaeothripinae with 2800 species in 370.

The generic classification of phlaeothripids is difficult to use, and the tribal classification is ill-defined. The Idolothripinae includes most of the largest bodied thrips; all members of this subfamily feed on fungal spores (Mound & Palmer 1983). The range of biologies amongst the Phlaeothripinae includes flower-feeding (Mound & Minaei 2007), leaf-feeding (Mound 1971b), fungus-feeding (Mound 1972) and predation (Palmer & Mound 1991). There is a wide diversity of species in the arid and semi-arid zones with interesting biologies (Mound 1970), and Australian Acacia thrips have been the subject of extensive study (Crespi et al. 2004; Bono & Crespi 2008). Despite these efforts, the available collections suggest that scarcely 50% of the Australian phlaeothripine fauna has been described.

Unidentified species thought to represent the genera Tylothrips Hood, 1937 have also been recorded near Canberra, Australia (Mound et al. 2013: 220).

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE: Gigantothrips nigripes Karny, 1924 — Mound, L.A. 2012. Four Phlaeothripidae (Thysanoptera) falsely recorded as Australian. Australian Entomologist 39(1): 1-4 [2]

PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE: Liothrips pallicornis (Karny, 1924) — Mound, L.A. 2012. Four Phlaeothripidae (Thysanoptera) falsely recorded as Australian. Australian Entomologist 39(1): 1-4 [3]

PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE: Liothrips priesneri Karny, 1924 — Mound, L.A. 2012. Four Phlaeothripidae (Thysanoptera) falsely recorded as Australian. Australian Entomologist 39(1): 1-4

PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE: Ophthalmothrips conocephalus (Karny, 1924) — Mound, L.A. 2012. Four Phlaeothripidae (Thysanoptera) falsely recorded as Australian. Australian Entomologist 39(1): 1-4 [2]

PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE: Ophthalmothrips Hood, 1919 — Mound, L.A. 2012. Four Phlaeothripidae (Thysanoptera) falsely recorded as Australian. Australian Entomologist 39(1): 1-4 (exclusion of Ophthalmothrips conocephalus removes genus from Australian list)

Diagnosis

The Phlaeothripidae are the only family in the suborder Tubulifera, and this name is derived from the structure of the last abdominal segment which is tubular with the anus terminal. However, the tube varies considerably in shape from long and slender to broadly conical. The eversible ovipositor of the female, and the external genitalia of the male, emerge at the base of the tube. The forewings have no longitudinal veins, and the marginal cilia are embedded in the wing membrane, not arising from sockets as in members of the Terebrantia families.

General References

Bono, J.M. & Crespi, B.J. 2008. Cofoundress relatedness and group productivity in colonies of social Dunatothrips (Insecta: Thysanoptera) on Australian Acacia. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 62: 1489-1498

Crespi, B.J., Morris, D.C. & Mound, L.A. 2004. Evolution of Ecological and Behavioural Diversity: Australian Acacia Thrips as Model Organisms. Canberra : Australian Biological Resources Study & CSIRO Entomology vi 321 pp.

Mound, L.A. 1970. Convoluted maxillary stylets and the systematics of some Phlaeothripine Thysanoptera from Casuarina trees in Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 18: 439-463 [Date published 31/12/1970]

Mound, L.A. 1971. The complex of Thysanoptera in rolled leaf galls on Geijera. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 10: 83-97 [Date published 31/12/1971]

Mound, L.A. 1972. Species complexes and the generic classification of leaf-litter thrips of the Tribe Urothripini (Phlaeothripidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 20: 83-103 [Date published 31/12/1972]

Mound, L.A., Dang, L.-H. & Tree, D.J. 2013. Genera of fungivorous Phlaeothripinae (Thysanoptera) from dead branches and leaf-litter in Australia. Zootaxa 3681(3): 201–224 [220]

Mound, L.A. & Minaei, K. 2007. Australian thrips of the Haplothrips lineage (Insecta: Thysanoptera). Journal of Natural History 41(45–48): 2919-2978

Mound, L.A. & Palmer, J.M. 1983. The generic and tribal classification of spore-feeding Thysanoptera (Phlaeothripidae: Idolothripinae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 46: 1-174 [Date published 31/12/1983]

Palmer, J.M. & Mound, L.A. 1991. Thysanoptera. pp. 67-76 in Rosen, D (ed.). The Armoured Scale Insects, Their Biology, Natural Enemies and Control. Amsterdam : Elsevier Vol. B. [Date published 31/12/1991]

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