Domicile constructing phlaeothripine Thysanoptera from Acacia phyllodes in Australia: Dunatothrips Moulton and Sartrithrips gen.n., with a key to associated genera

Abstract

Abstract. Domiciles are constructed by adult females of species in several genera of Australian phlaeothripine Thysanoptera. This is done by glueing or sewing together two or more Acacia phyllodes, or by weaving a tentlike structure on a phyllode surface. These thrips then breed within the domiciles, sometimes for multiple generations. Mature females become dealate in seven of twelve species discussed, through fracture of the distal four‐fifths of each wing, although young females and all males have complete wings. Of these twelve species, six are placed in Dunatothrips Moulton and six in a new genus, Sartrithrips. Adults of the latter genus have a spinelike structure dorsal to the anus, ‘the supra‐anal process’, that is not found in any other member of Phlaeothripidae. Despite the many structural and biological character states shared by these twelve species, molecular methods using one nuclear gene (wingless) and one mitochondrial gene (cytochromome oxidase 1) demonstrated that the two genera are monophyletic but do not have a sister‐group relationship. Identification keys are provided to nineteen described phlaeothripine genera that are known to be associated with Acacia phyllodes, and to the twelve species in Dunatothrips and Sartrithrips, of which ten are described as new.