''Friesea litoralis'' is a species 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 ...

belonging to the family

Neanuridae The family Neanuridae contains pudgy short-legged springtails of the order Poduromorpha. It was established by Carl Börner in 1901. Systematics There are six subfamilies currently recognized: * Caputanurininae * Frieseinae * Morulinina ...

. The species was first described by

Keith Arthur John Wise Keith Arthur John Wise (1 June 1926 – 31 March 2012), often referred to as K. A. J. Wise, was a New Zealand entomologist. Originally employed at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand), Department of Scientific and ...

in 1964. The species is native to Campbell Island in the

New Zealand Subantarctic Islands The New Zealand Subantarctic Islands comprise the five southernmost groups of the New Zealand outlying islands. They are collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most of the islands lie near the southeast edge of the large ...

Taxonomy

The species was first described as ''Colonavis litoralis'' in 1964 by

. Wise placed the species within ''Colonavis'' and not ''

Friesea ''Friesea'' is a large genus of springtails belonging to the family Neanuridae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution. Species There are 199 species of the ''Friesea'' genus: * '' Friesea acuminata'' (Denis, 1925) * '' Friesea aeolica'' R. ...

'' due to the absence of furcula, tenaculum and spine papillae, and presence of serrate setae. In 1967 Zaher Massoud placed the species within the genus ''Friesea''.

Description

''Friesea litoralis'' is dark blue to black in colour.

Distribution

The species is known to occur in the

Campbell Islands The Campbell Islands (or Campbell Island Group) are a group of subantarctic islands, belonging to New Zealand. They lie about 600 km south of Stewart Island. The islands have a total area of , consisting of one big island, Campbell Is ...

. The holotype of the species was found at Lookout Bay underneath stones and kelp, with further paratypes found at Lookout Bay and Smoothwater Bay.

References

{{Authority control Animals described in 1964 Neanuridae Endemic arthropods of New Zealand Fauna of the Campbell Islands Taxa named by Keith Arthur John Wise