:''Entomobryoidea is also the old name of

Entomobryomorpha The Entomobryomorpha are one of the three main groups (order) of springtails (Collembola), tiny hexapods related to insects. This group was formerly treated as a superfamily, the Entomobryoidea. They can be best distinguished from the other s ...

, when these were placed in the "Arthropleona"'' The Entomobryoidea are a superfamily 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 (Collembola), tiny hexapods related to

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. In the modern sense, this group is placed in an

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

called

. This superfamily contains very characteristic

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of springtails. They typically possess long legs and antennae, as well as a well-developed

furcula The (Latin for "little fork"; : furculae) or wishbone is a forked bone found in most birds and some species of non-avian dinosaurs, and is either an interclavicle or formed by the fusion of the two clavicles. In birds, its primary function is ...

Systematics

The Entomobryoidea in the old sense – now

– were united with the Poduroidea (now

Poduromorpha The order (biology), order Poduromorpha is one of the three main groups of springtails (Collembola), tiny Hexapoda, hexapods related to insects. This group was formerly treated as a Taxonomic rank, superfamily Poduroidea. They can be best distin ...

) in a group called "Arthropleona", but this has more recently turned out to be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

. Actually the Entomobryomorpha, the Poduromorpha, and the third springtail lineage – the

Symphypleona The order Symphypleona, also known as the globular springtails, is one of the three main groups of springtails (Collembola), tiny hexapods related to insects. When the springtails were still believed to be an order of insects, the Symphypleona w ...

– are equally distinct from each other. Their treatment at equal

taxonomic rank In biology, taxonomic rank (which some authors prefer to call nomenclatural rank because ranking is part of nomenclature rather than taxonomy proper, according to some definitions of these terms) is the relative or absolute level of a group of or ...

reflects this. Following a 2008 review of the Entomobryomorpha,Soto-Adames ''et al.'' (2008) the Cyphoderidae are demoted to a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of the Paronellidae. Apart from the three living

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

, there are also two extinct ones known only from

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s. * Family Paronellidae - includes Cyphoderidae * Family

Entomobryidae Entomobryidae, sometimes called "slender springtails", is a family of springtails 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 colourfu ...

* Family Microfalculidae * Family † Oncobryidae (fossil) * Family †Praentomobryidae (fossil)

Footnotes

References

* Soto-Adames, Felipe N.; Barra, Jean-Auguste; Christiansen, Kenneth & Jordana, Rafael (2008): Suprageneric Classification of Collembola Entomobryomorpha. ''Annals of the Entomological Society of America'' 101(3): 501–513. DOI:10.1603/0013-8746(2008)101 01:SCOCE.0.CO;2HTML abstract
Entomobryomorpha Arthropod superfamilies {{springtail-stub