What is "machlyes"

The Machlyes were an ancient Libyan tribe. According to Herodotus, their young women held a ritual battle with sticks and stones annually with neighboring Auseans.

Pliny (Natural history, VII, ii, 15) claimed them to be hermaphrodite, with a male half and a female half, possibly inspired by the martial practices of the females.

In the book Sweet Shadows by Tera Lynn Childs, the machlyes Achilla saves Gretchen from the merdaemon in the abysses.