| Abstract: | Mecynothrips hardyi (Priesner), a member of the phlaeothripid subfamily Idolothripinae, is demonstrated to feed on whole fungal spores on hanging dead leaves and branches of Acacia harpophylla (brigalow). The diet primarily comprises spores of a recently described species of Dothiorella (Botryosphaeriaceae). The 14μm-wide food canal enclosed by the maxillary stylets is evidently adapted to imbibe whole spores, and the foregut includes a sclerotized proventriculus with internal ridges that presumably aids in the abrasion and thus digestion of the thick-walled spores. |
