Entomobryidae
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Entomobryidae, sometimes called "slender springtails", is a family of
springtail Springtails (class Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern Hexapoda, hexapods that are no longer considered insects. Although the three lineages are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have in ...
s characterised by having an enlarged fourth abdominal segment and a well-developed furcula. Species in this family may be heavily scaled and can be very colourful. The scale-less Entomobryidae are commonly caught in pitfall traps around the planet, and also occur in canopy faunas high up in trees (notably '' Entomobrya nivalis'', very common throughout Europe if not the Northern Hemisphere). There are more than 1700 described species in Entomobryidae.


Description

This family has a reduced
prothorax The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ...
that lacks setae. The antennae are longer than the head diagonal. A mandibular plate is present. The abdominal segments are not fused. The body has trichobothria and thick clavate
seta In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae, ...
e, and often scales as well. The dens is longer than the manubrium, tapering and annulated. The dentes are roughly parallel and distally curved. The mucro is small and has one or two teeth. In more general terms, Entomobryidae tend to be relatively large springtails, reaching 2 mm or more. They may have stripes, bands or streaks of blue, red or purple. Some species are all blue or all white, the latter tending to also have reduced
ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...
. Cave-dwelling species have long appendages and the claws are often modified.


Ecology

On humid mornings, many entomobryid species climb
herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...
s to feed on pollen and the spores of fungi. Entomobryids have been found in brood galleries of
bark beetle A bark beetle is the common name for the subfamily of beetles Scolytinae. Previously, this was considered a distinct family (Scolytidae), but is now understood to be a specialized clade of the "true weevil" family (Curculionidae). Although th ...
s, where they are presumed to feed on fungi or act as saprophages. Some species live in
intertidal The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various sp ...
habitats. Springtails of this family are prey for a range of predators, including various
ground beetle Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it ...
s, the shore bug '' Saldula saltatoria,'' soil centipedes,
lady beetle Coccinellidae () is a widespread family (biology), family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to Mary, mother of Jesus, mother Mary. Entomologists use the ...
larvae,
ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...
s and crab spiders.


Genera

These 38 genera belong to the family Entomobryidae: * '' Acanthurella'' Börner, 1906 g * '' Acrocyrtus'' Yosii, 1959 g * '' Amazhomidia'' g * '' Americabrya'' Mari Mutt & Palacios-vargas, 1987 b * '' Aphysa'' Handschin, 1925 g * '' Ascocyrtus'' Yosii, 1963 g * '' Australotomurus'' Stach, 1947 g * '' Bessoniella'' Deharveng & Thibaud, 1989 g * ''
Calx Calx is a substance formed from an ore or mineral that has been heated. Calx, especially of a metal, is now understood to be an oxide. The term is also sometimes used in older texts on artists' techniques to mean calcium oxide. According to the ...
'' b * '' Coecobrya'' Yosii, 1956 c g b * '' Corynothrix'' Tullberg, 1876 i c g * '' Dicranocentrus'' Schött, 1893 g * '' Drepanura'' Schoett, 1891 c g b * '' Entomobrya'' Rondani, 1861 i c g b * '' Entomobryoides'' Maynard, 1951 g b * '' Epimetrura'' Schött, 1925 g * '' Haloentomobrya'' Stach, 1963 g * '' Hawinella'' Bellinger & Christiansen, 1974 i c g * '' Heteromurus'' Wankel, 1860 i c g b * '' Homidia'' Börner, 1906 g b * '' Janetschekbrya'' Yosii, 1971 i c g * '' Lepidobrya'' c g * '' Lepidocyrtoides'' Schött, 1917 g * '' Lepidocyrtus'' Bourlet, 1839 i c g b * '' Lepidosira'' c g * '' Mesentotoma'' b * '' Orchesella'' Templeton, 1758 i c g b * '' Orchesellides'' Bonet, 1930 i c g * '' Permobrya'' Riek, 1976 g * '' Pseudosinella'' Schaeffer, 1897 i c g b * '' Rhynchocyrtus'' de Mendoça & Fernandes, 2007 g * '' Seira'' Lubbock, 1869 i c g b * '' Sinella'' Brook, 1882 i c g b * '' Sinelloides'' Bonet, 1942 g * '' Sinhomidia'' Zhang, 2009 g * '' Tyrannoseira'' Bellini & Zeppelini, 2011 g * '' Verhoeffiella'' Absolon, 1900 i g * '' Willowsia'' Shoebotham, 1917 i c g b Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net


References


External links

* * * * * {{Authority control Entomobryomorpha Arthropod families