Austrothrips, Brethes, 1915

Mound, Laurence, 2020, Taxonomic confusion among gall-thrips and host-plants, with three new combinations from the genus Austrothrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae), Zootaxa 4755 (3), pp. 587-592 : 588

The genus Austrothrips

The generic name Austrothrips is a particular problem because the identity of the type species remains unknown. Three further species have been described in this genus, and re-examination of the original specimens of each one has indicated that they are not closely related to each other, and that each requires a new generic placement. The genus was erected by Brethes (1915) for a single new species from Argentina, A. verae Brethes. The only recorded population of this species was collected from a Basidiomycete fungus, and the description states and illustrates that the male is wingless with no ocelli and with a prominent narrow fore tarsal tooth. But verae has not been studied by any taxonomist other than the describer, and the original specimens appear to have been lost (teste Carlos de Borbon, xi.2019). The description, and the association with a Basidiomycete fungus, suggest that verae belongs in some genus of fungus-feeding Phlaeothripinae. Indeed, Austrothrips may prove to be a synonym of Hoplothrips , a worldwide genus exhibiting much variation in structure among species ( Mound et al. 2020). The name Austrothrips thus becomes a nomen dubium, as well as verae , until such time that suitable specimens can be collected in Argentina. The three other species described in the genus seem to have been placed there primarily because of the presence of long, capitate major setae on the pronotum, and the descriptions do not provide suitable character states for reassessing their relationships within the Phlaeothripinae. Original material of each of these species has therefore been studied, and each species is here transferred to a different genus.