Generic diagnosis

Small sized, apterous, often bicoloured Phlaeothripinae with tergite X elongate. Head scarcely longer than wide, dorsal surface sculptured, anterior margin with 3 (or 2) pairs of setae, eyes reduced to 10 facets or less; mouth cone short, maxillary stylets retracted almost to eyes, one fifth to one third of head width apart, with maxillary bridge. Antennae with 5 (rarely 6) visible segments, III‒V fused with sutures between them often absent, segments VII‒VIII usually fused. Pronotum rugose, notopleural sutures absent, only epimeral setae prominent. Prosternal basantra small, wide-apart lateral to mouth cone, ferna not joined medially; mesopresternum transverse but weak and mesoeusternal anterior margin eroded medially; metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent. Hind coxae more widely separated than mid coxae. Fore tarsal tooth absent, rarely with laterally projecting hamus. Metathoracic epimera slightly swollen. Abdominal tergite I transverse; abdominal segment IX longer than wide, without prominent setae; tube long and slender, much longer than head; anal setae longer than tube.

Nomenclatural data

Stephanothrips Trybom, 1913: 42. Type species Stephanothrips buffai Trybom, 1913, by monotypy.

There are 32 species described in this genus (ThripsWiki, 2022).

Australian species
Stephanothrips adnatus Ananthakrishnan, 1972: 433
Stephanothrips barretti Mound, 1972: 100
Stephanothrips broomei Mound & Tree, 2018: 182
Stephanothrips ferrari Mound, 1972: 100
Stephanothrips howei Mound & Tree, 2018: 183
Stephanothrips occidentalis Hood & Williams, 1925: 69

Relationship data

This Phlaeothripinae genus is a member of the group often referred to as the Urothripini, including Baenothrips and Octurothrips.

Distribution data

Most members of this genus are from Asia, with five species from North America, two from Africa and six from Australia (of which occidentalis is known worldwide and adnatus is an Indian species that has been studied from Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean).

Biological data

The members of this genus are found on dead branches and in leaf-litter where they are presumably fungus-feeding.

References

Mound (1972) Species complexes and the generic classification of leaf-litter thrips of the Tribe Urothripini (Phlaeothripidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 20: 83–103.

Mound LA & Tree DJ (2018) Fungus-feeding thrips of the genus Stephanothrips in Australia (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae). Zootaxa 4442 (1): 181–186.

Okajima S (2006) The Insects of Japan Volume 2 The suborder Tubulifera (Thysanoptera). Fukuoka: Touka Shobo Co Ltd pp. 1–720.

ThripsWiki (2022) ThripsWiki - providing information on the World's thrips. Available from: http://thrips.info/wiki/ (Accessed 15.iii.2022)