Machatothrips, Bagnall, 1908

Eow, L. X., Mound, L. A. & Ng, Y. F., 2011, Genera of Spore-Feeding Thysanoptera from Southeast Asia (Phlaeothripidae, Idolothripinae), with a species checklist from Peninsular Malaysia, Zootaxa 2928 (1), pp. 1-19 : 15

Machatothrips

A key to the 14 species recognised in this genus was provided by Palmer & Mound (1978), these species being distributed from West Africa through Asia to New Guinea. However, recently collected material suggests that the validity of some of the species recognised by these authors is uncertain, because the lengths of some of the major setae appear to be far more variable than was previously accepted, and males in particular cannot be identified with any certainty. Species in this genus are unusual amongst Idolothripinae in that it is females, not males, that have the fore femora armed, although the fore tarsal tooth of males is larger and stouter than that of females. The behavioural significance of this remains unknown. Moreover, in two species described from Malaysia, M. decorus Palmer & Mound and M. lentus Palmer & Mound , males as well as females have armed fore femora. In Peninsular Malaysia three species have been collected commonly from dead branches, M. antennatus Bagnall , M. biuncinatus Bagnall , and M. lentus Palmer & Mound , whereas M. heveae Karny has been taken infrequently. Also recorded from Asia are two species from Taiwan, three from India, and one from New Guinea.