Family ENTOMOBRYIDAE
Compiler and date details
June 2010 - Penelope Greenslade, Bendigo, Victoria
Introduction
The Entomobryidae is a large family with 21 genera, 7 subgenera, and 83 species recorded in Australia. Three additional genera, Drepanosira Bonet, Dicranocentrus Schött, 1893 and Calx Christiansen, 1957, the latter recently found on Barrow Island, are without described species in Australia. There may be a few undescribed genera. Some genera in the Lepidocyrtini are in need of redefinition, in particular Lepidocyrtoides Schött, 1917 and Lepidosira Schött, 1925 as there were contradictions in Schött's definitions of them. Some species, therefore, have been allocated somewhat arbitrarily between them pending revision.
Acanthurella Börner, 1906 and Acanthocyrtus Handschin, 1925 were revised recently by Feng et al. (2009).
The Entomobryidae comprises two subfamilies: the Entomobryinae characterised by abdomen IV much longer than III and antenna I undivided, and the Orchesellinae with abdomen III approximately equal to abdomen IV and antenna I and sometimes antenna II subdivided.
The Orchesellinae is represented by only three described genera. One genus, Australotomurus Stach, 1947, is epigaeic and endemic to Australia. The other two genera are subtropical leaf litter dwellers. The Entomobryinae, with four tribes, the Lepidocyrtini, the Seirini, the Willowsini and the Entomobryini, is the largest subfamily.
The monobasic genus Lepidosinella Handschin, 1920 does not occur in Australia. The record of Lepidosinella armata Handschin, 1920 by Richards and Lane (1966) was a misidentification of a Coecobrya Yosii, 1956 species near hoefti Schäffer, 1986 (Greenslade 1992) identified as Sinella (Sinella) communis by Chen et al. (2005), now Sinella communis (see Zhang et al. 2009). Four species listed by Schött (1917) and Womersley (1934, 1939) as Sira abrupta Schött, 1917, Sira tricincta Schött, 1917, Sira jacobsoni Börner, 1913 and Sira platani (Nicolet, 1841), were incorrectly assigned to genus. They are now referred to Willowsia Shoebotham, 1917.
Species are found in a wide range of habitats, including leaf litter, soil, under bark and on vegetation. Genera are distinguished by the shape of the mucro, presence and form of scales, and chaetotaxy.
Diagnosis
Characterised by: thorax I reduced and without setae, antennae longer than the head diagonal, mandibular plate present, abdominal segments not fused, body with trichobothria and thick clavate setae, scales often present, dens longer than manubrium tapering and annulated, dentes roughly parallel and distally curved, mucro small, one or two toothed.
General References
Chen, J-X., Leng, Z. & Greenslade, P. 2005. Australian species of Sinella (Sinella) (Collembola: Entomobryidae). Australian Journal of Entomology 44: 15-21
Greenslade, Penelope 1992. The identity of Australian specimens recorded as Lepidosinella armata Handschin 1920 (Collembola: Entomobryidae) with a key to Australian Sinella and Coecobrya. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 31(4): 327-330
Mari Mutt, J.A. 1980. A classification of the Orchesellinae with a key to the tribes, genera and subgenera (Collembola: Entomobryidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 73: 455-459
Richards, A.M. & Lane, E.A. 1966. Exotic Collembola from Jenolan Caves, N.S.W. Helictite July 1966. 88-89 pp.
Schött, H. 1917. Results of Dr E. Mjöberg's Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910–1913. 15. Collembola. Arkiv för Zoologi 11(8): 1-60 4 pls
Szeptycki, A. 1979. Chaetotaxy of the Entomobryidae and its phylogenetical significance. Morpho–systematic studies on Collembola IV. Warsaw : Polska Akademia Nauk 218 pp.
Womersley, H. 1934. A preliminary account of the Collembola-Arthropleona of Australia. Part II Superfamily Entomobryoidea. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 58: 86-138
Womersley, H. 1939. Primitive Insects of South Australia. Silverfish, springtails and their allies. Adelaide : Frank Trigg, Government Printer 322 pp. 1 pl
Yoshii, R. & Greenslade, P. 1994. Reconnaissance of some entomobryid Collembola of Australia. Azao 3: 1-22