Family ELIPSOCIDAE

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Introduction

The Elipsocidae comprise 24 genera and 119 species, among which seventeen genera and 23 species are listed for the Australian fauna, including Christmas Island (Smithers 1995). Elipsocids are seldom abundant. They are found mainly on bark but occur also in leaf litter and in dried leaves. Polymorphism is known in several genera.

Elipsocids have 13-segmented antennae, occasionally fewer. The tarsi are usually 3-segmented but in some genera they are 2-segmented. The venation of the forewing is usually similar to that of the Caeciliidae but there is considerable variation in detail. In a few genera variation can often be found in one individual: the setae are often in more than one row on the main veins but in a single row on the branches and they may be densely arranged or very sparse and small, sometimes making them difficult to see without adequate magnification. The hind wing veins are usually glabrous but the margin has setae between the ends of R2+3 and R4+5. The gonapophyses are usually complete with the ventral valve pointed, with or without a preapical lobe. The dorsal valve is well developed, pointed, usually with a preapical lobe. The external valve is large and strongly setose. The phallosome has simple but usually strongly developed sclerification of the penial bulb. The eggs are laid in groups and covered with an encrustation.

References

Enderlein, G. 1903. Die Copeognathen des indo-australischen Faunengebietes. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 1: 179–344 12 figs pls iii–xiv

Smithers, C.N. 1963. The Elipsocidae of Australia. Pacific Insects 5(4): 885–898 25 figs

Smithers, C.N. 1964. Notes on the relationships of the genera of Elipsocidae. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London 116: 211–224

Smithers, C.N. 1996. Psocoptera. pp. 1–79 in Wells, A. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 26. Psocoptera, Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing pp. xiii 418