The New World grass‐thrips genus Plesiothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and its palaeotropical relationships

Morphological character states displayed by Plesiothrips Hood, a New World genus of grass-living thrips, are assessed. This assessment indicates that Plesiothrips shares more character states with genera from Southeast Asia, including the Trichromothrips genus-group, than with any New World Thripinae. Sorghothrips sakagami (Kudo) comb. n. is removed from Plesiothrips; Taeniothrips aberrans Crawford syn. n. is considered a new synonym of Plesiothrips amblycauda Hood; and an illustrated identification key is given to 16 Plesiothrips species for which females are known.