Distinguishing features

Both sexes fully winged. Body brown, eyes bright red, head with chalky-white linear marking laterally, also pronotum; tarsi and apices of mid and hind tibiae yellow; antennae brown, segment III largely brownish yellow; fore wing weakly shaded, with longitudinal brown line. Head longer than wide; eyes large, holoptic; maxillary stylets retracted to eyes, close together medially, with stout maxillary guides; postocular setae minute; mouth cone extends across mesosternum. Antennae 8-segmented; segment III with 2 stout sense cones, IV with 4; segment VIII closely joined to VII. Pronotum with five pairs of capitate setae; epimeral sutures not complete. Fore tarsus without tooth. Metanotum with many dot-like markings between linear striations. Fore wing parallel sided, with about 10 duplicated cilia. Pelta slightly recessed into anterior margin of tergite II; tergites II–VII with 2 pairs of weakly sigmoid wing-retaining setae; tergite IX setae S1 length about half that of tube.
Male varying in size, large males with prominent tubercle on inner margin of fore femora.

Related species

The genus Macrophthalmothrips currently includes 16 described species, of which eight are Neotropical with two species extending into eastern U.S.A., and eight species are from other parts of the tropics (Mound, 1972). M. argus is now widespread, but is closely related to species described from Asia and the Western Pacific.

Biological data

Adults and larvae live on dead branches of various trees, presumably feeding on fungal hyphae.

Distribution data

Presumably this species came originally from somewhere in the palaeotropics, but it has been dispersed around the world by shipping, and is known from Northern Australia, Hawaii, Tanzania; USA (California, Georgia), and New Zealand (AK, TO).

Family name

PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE, PHLAEOTHRIPINAE

Species name

Macrophthalmothrips argus (Karny)

Original name and synonyms

Ophthalmothrips argus Karny, 1920: 38
Macrophthalmothrips marginalis Girault, 1934: 2
Macrophthalmothrips hawaiiensis Moulton, 1928: 122
Macrophthalmothrips pulchellus Hood, 1934: 84

References

Mound LA (1972) Tropical fungus-feeding Thysanoptera of the genus Macrophthalmothrips. Journal of Entomology (B) 41: 77–88.

Mound LA & Walker AK (1986) Tubulifera (Insecta: Thysanoptera). Fauna of New Zealand 10: 1–140.