Entomobryoidea
The Entomobryoidea are a superfamily of springtails (Collembola), tiny hexapods related to insects. In the modern sense, this group is placed in an order called Entomobryomorpha.
- Entomobryoidea is also the old name of Entomobryomorpha, when these were placed in the "Arthropleona"
Entomobryoidea | |
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Three Orchesella (Entomobryidae) drinking birch sap | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Subphylum: | |
Class: | Entognatha (disputed) |
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Superfamily: | Entomobryoidea Womersley, 1934, sensu Soto-Adames et al., 2008 |
Families | |
and see text |
This superfamily contains very characteristic species of springtails. They typically possess long legs and antennae, as well as a well-developed furcula.
Systematics
The Entomobryoidea in the old sense – now Entomobryomorpha – were united with the Poduroidea (now Poduromorpha) in a group called "Arthropleona", but this has more recently turned out to be paraphyletic. Actually the Entomobryomorpha, the Poduromorpha, and the third springtaill lineage – the Symphypleona – are equally distinct from each other. Their treatment at equal taxonomic rank reflects this.[1]
Following a 2008 review of the Entomobryomorpha,[2] the Cyphoderidae are demoted to a subfamily of the Paronellidae. Apart from the three living families, there are also two extinct ones known only from fossils.
- Family Paronellidae - includes Cyphoderidae
- Family Entomobryidae
- Family Microfalculidae
- Family Oncobryidae (fossil)
- Family Praentomobryidae (fossil)
Footnotes
- See references in Haaramo (2008)
- Soto-Adames et al. (2008)
References
- Soto-Adames, Felipe N.; Barra, Jean-Auguste; Christiansen, Kenneth & Jordana, Rafael (2008): Suprageneric Classification of Collembola Entomobryomorpha. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 101(3): 501–513. DOI:10.1603/0013-8746(2008)101[501:SCOCE]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract