Family ENTOMOBRYIDAE
Compiler and date details
Penelope Greenslade, School of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Introduction
The Entomobryidae is a large family with 21 genera, 7 subgenera, and 80 species recorded in Australia. Two additional two genera, Drepanosira Bonet and Dicranocentrus Schött, are known to occur in Australia but as yet no Australian species have been described. 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 and Acanthurella Börner, 1906 and Acanthocyrtus Handschin, 1925, since there were contradictions in Schött's definitions of these genera. A few species, therefore, have been allocated somewhat arbitrarily between these two genera, pending revision.
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).
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 genera. One genus, which is epigaeic, is endemic to Australia. The other two genera are subtropical leaf litter dwellers, one of which, Dicranocentrus, is without described species in Australia. The Entomobryinae, with three tribes, the Lepidocyrtini, the Seirini and the Entomobryini, is the largest subfamily. 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.
Four species listed by Schött (1917) and Womersley (1934, 1939) asSira 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.
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.
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 pp. 218
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