Family ODONTELLIDAE
Compiler and date details
Penelope Greenslade, School of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Introduction
Only four described species from four genera and subgenera are known from Australia. There are, however, many undescribed Australian species belonging to the genus Odontella Schäffer. Another genus, Axenyllodes Stach, is known from Australia but no Australian species have been described. Odontella is common in leaf litter in the humid forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. Caufrenyllodes, the only endemic genus, occurs predominantly in sub-humid and seasonally arid areas. A key to the genera of Odontellidae is given in Greenslade and Deharveng (1984).
Diagnosis
Characterised by: thorax I developed and setose, mandibular plate absent or very reduced, microsetae s' absent on thorax III, cardo of maxilla reduced or absent, stipes and fulcrum articulate directly.
General References
Deharveng, L. 1981. La famille des Odontellidae: phylogénèse et taxonomie. Travaux du Laboratoire d'Ecobiolologie des Arthropodes Edaphiques, Toulouse 3(1): 1-21
Greenslade, Penelope & Deharveng, L. 1984. Caufrenyllodes (Collembola: Odontellidae), a new genus from Australia. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 23: 223-227