Saltatorial leaf-feeding Thysanoptera (Thripidae : Dendrothripinae) from Australia and New Caledonia, with newly recorded pests of ferns, figs and mulberries

Thrips of the subfamily Dendrothripinae that have been observed alive are a ll remarkably saltatorial. Each of them has an elongate and characteristica lly lyre-shaped metathoracic endofurca, to which are attached the powerful muscles used by these minute leaf-feeding thrips when jumping. Out of a wor ld fauna in this subfamily of 10 genera and 86 species, six genera and 11 s pecies are here recorded from Australia with a further new genus and specie s from New Caledonia, Leucothrips nigripennis Reuter, a pest of cultivated ferns previously known only from the northern hemisphere including southern India, is newly recorded from Australia and Brazil, and the suggestion mad e that the species is Neotropical in origin; the male is described for the first time as having simple antennal sense cones in contrast to the forked sense cones of females. Three species of Pseudodendrothrips are recorded fr om Australia: P. gillespiei sp. n. is described from Lord Howe Island; P, d arci (Girault) is redescribed, and recorded as damaging young leaves of Fic us species in northern Australia; P. mori (Niwa), a widespread pest of Moru s, is recorded from Australia for the first time. The possibility is discus sed that P. mori, P. darci, and the south-east Asian Menu pest P. bhattii K udo represent a single species. The genus Dendrothrips is recorded from Aus tralia for the first time with the description of three species: D. glynn s p. n. from northern Queensland is related to D. reticulatus Bournier from N ew Caledonia; D. diaspora sp. n. from Queensland, New South Wales and Weste rn Australia is related to D. howei sp. n. from Lord Howe Island. The genus Edissa, previously based on one species from Africa, is recorded from Aust ralia, with E. steinerae sp. n. described from Queensland; this species is also recorded from Japan and Thailand. Asprothrips seminigricornis (Girault ) is redescribed from several sites in eastern Australia. Ensiferothrips se cundus sp. n. is described from Lord Howe Island, the genus being known pre viously from a single species in New Caledonia and New South Wales. Filicop sothrips wellsae gen. et sp. n., with forewings intermediate in structure b etween those of Dendrothrips species and typical thripids, is described fro m tree ferns in New Caledonia.