Family PROSOPISTOMATIDAE
Compiler and date details
Ian Campbell, Chisolm Institute of Technology, Caufield East, Victoria, Australia
Introduction
The family Prosopistomatidae contains a single genus with species distributed in Europe, Africa, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Philippines, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Australia (Edmunds et al. 1976). The morphology of the nymphs is unusual; the head is recessed into the thorax and the mesonotum forms a carapace that covers most of the abdomen. As a result, they were first described as crustaceans by Latrielle (1833). The family is the most recent to be discovered in Australia, having first been recorded by Pearson & Penridge (1979) from far north Queensland.
General References
Campbell, I.C. & Hubbard, M.D. 1998. A new species of Prosopistoma (Ephemeroptera, Prosopistomatidae) from Australia. Aquatic Insects 20: 141-148
Edmunds, G.F. Jr, Jensen, S.L. & Berner, L. 1976. The Mayflies of North and Central America. Minneapolis : Univ. Minnesota Press x 330 pp.
Latrielle, M. 1833. Description d'un noveau genre de Crustacés. Nouvelles Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris 2: 23-34
Pearson, K.G. & Penridge, L.K. 1979. First records of Prosopistoma sedlaceki in Australia (Ephemeroptera: Prosopistomatidae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 18: 362