Australian gall thrips with a new genus and species of Phlaeothripinae from Melaleuca microphylla in Western Australia

Peltastethrips waychinicup gen. et sp. nov. are described from Western Australia in galled terminal shoots of Melaleuca microphylla. The collecting site was in a National Park near the extreme southwest of this continent. The inducer of the galls is probably a species of Eriococcidae, with the thrips occasionally invading and breeding in the available space. The new genus is a member of the Teuchothrips group of leaf-feeding Phlaeothripinae, but has a uniquely longitudinally elongate pelta, the first abdominal tergite. Also, the head capsule is eroded longitudinally postero-laterally.