Family NEELIDAE

Neelides sp.

© Copyright J. Thurmer. CSIRO Entomology.

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Introduction

This is a cosmopolitan family of minute soil-living species. They are very poorly understood, both in Australia and worldwide. Three genera and three species are known and all occur in Australia, although one, Neelides Caroli, 1912, is without described species here. Salmon's (1964) publication of a record of Neelides minutus (Folsom) from Australia, attributing the record to Womersley (1932), is an error, since in this publication Womersley records the species from Ireland only. The Neelidae may be fairly abundant, especially in moist soils.

Diagnosis

Characterised by: globular body, ocelli absent, antennae shorter than the head diagonal, mandibular plate present, trichobothria absent, sensory areas on body present.

General References

Bonet, F. 1948. Monografia da la familia Neelidae (Collembola). Revista de la Sociedad Mexicana de Historia Natural 8: 131-203

Salmon, J.T. 1964. An index to the Collembola. Vols 1 & 2. Entomologiske Meddelelser 7: 1-144, 145-644

Stach, J. 1957. The Apterygotan fauna of Poland in relation to the world-fauna of this group of insects. Families: Neelidae and Dicyrtomidae. Cracow : Pol. Akad. Nauk Pt 7 113 pp. 9 pls.

Womersley, H. 1932. The Collembola-Symphypleona of Australia: A preliminary account. CSIRO Pamphlet No. 34. Melbourne : Government Printer 47 pp.

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