Collembola

Neelus murinus, copyright Philippe Garcelon.

Belongs within: Panhexapoda.
Contains: Sminthuridae, Dicyrtomidae, Hypogastruridae, Neanuridae, Onychiuridae, Brachystomellidae, Odontellidae, Isotomidae, Entomobryidae, Paronellidae, Tomoceridae.

The Collembola are the springtails, minute hexapods found worldwide. The vernacular name refers to the presence in most Collembola of a forked appendage on the underside of the abdomen that can be flicked backwards to fling the springtail into the air. Springtails may be divided between the Arthropleona, in which the body is elongate with most segments well defined, and Neopleona, in which the body is globular with many segments fused.

Synapomorphies (from Grimaldi & Engel 2005): Antennae short, typically four-segmented; thoracic sterna divided into lateral basisternites by linea ventralis; legs with tibiae and monomeric tarsi fused to form tibiotarsus; abdomen reduced to six or fewer segments; first abdominal segment bearing a ventral tube (the collophore) with eversible vesicles at apex; gonopore present on fifth abdominal segment; furculum ('spring') present on venter of fourth abdominal segment, reclining into retinaculum ('lock') on third abdominal segment; furculum divided between broad base (manubrium) bearing paired-finger like processes (dentes) that may bear further small apical processes (mucrones).

<==Collembola [Podurellae, Podurida]
    |--Neopleona GE05
    |    |--Symphypleona G91
    |    |    |--Sminthuridae GE05
    |    |    |--Dicyrtomidae G91
    |    |    `--Mackenziella CB81 [Mackenziellidae G91]
    |    |         `--M. psocoides Hammer 1953 (n. d.) CB81
    |    `--Neelidae [Megalothoracidae, Neelipleona] GE05
    |         |--Acanthoneelidus Bretfeld & Griegel 2006 [=Acanthothorax Bretfeld & Griegel 1999 non Gaede 1832] BG06
    |         |    `--*A. pratensis (Bretfeld & Griegel 1999) [=*Acanthothorax pratensis] BG06
    |         `--Neelus Folsom 1896 W39
    |              |--*N. (Neelus) murinus Folsom 1896 CB81
    |              |--N. (Megalothorax Willem 1900) C90, W39 (see below for synonymy)
    |              |    |--N. (*M.) minimus (Willem 1900) CB81 (see below for synonymy)
    |              |    |--N. (M.) albus (Maynard 1951) (n. d.) [=Megalothorax albus] CB81
    |              |    |--N. (M.) incertus (Börner 1903) [=Megalothorax incertus; incl. M. incertoides Mills 1934] CB81
    |              |    |--N. (M.) swani Womersley 1932 W39
    |              |    `--N. (M.) tristani (Denis 1933) [=Megalothorax tristani] CB81
    |              `--N. (Neelides Caroli 1912) CB81
    |                   |--N. (*N.) folsomi (Caroli 1912) RD77, CB81 [=*Neelides folsomi CB81]
    |                   |--N. (N.) dianae Christiansen & Bellinger 1981 CB81
    |                   |--N. (N.) minutus Folsom 1901 CB81
    |                   `--N. (N.) snideri (Bernard 1975) [=Neelides snideri] CB81
    `--Arthropleona G91
         |  i. s.: Neobeckerella allusa Wray 1942 (n. d.) CB81
         |--Poduroidea [Hypogastruroidea, Poduromorpha] G91
         |    |--Hypogastruridae G91
         |    |--Neanuridae G91
         |    |--Onychiuridae G91
         |    |--Brachystomellidae G91
         |    |--Odontellidae G91
         |    `--Podura Linnaeus 1758 L58 [Poduridae G91, Podurinae]
         |         |--*P. aquatica Linnaeus 1758 (see below for synonymy) CB80a
         |         |--P. arborea linnaeus 1758 L58
         |         `--P. nivalis Linnaeus 1758 L58
         `--Entomobryomorpha S-AB08
              |--Coenaletes [Coenaletidae, Coenaletoidea] S-AB08
              |--Isotomoidea S-AB08
              |    |--Isotomidae G91
              |    `--Actaletes W39 [Actaletidae S-AB08, Actaletinae]
              |         `--A. neptuni RD77
              |--Entomobryoidea G91
              |    |--Entomobryidae G91
              |    |--Paronellidae G91
              |    |--Microfalcula Massoud & Betsch 1966 [Microfalculidae, Microfalculinae] S-AB08
              |    |--Protentomobrya Folsom 1937 CP02 [Protentomobryidae G91]
              |    |    `--*P. walkeri Folsom 1937 CP02
              |    |--Oncobrya Christiansen & Pike 2002 CP02 [Oncobryidae S-AB08]
              |    |    `--*O. decepta Christiansen & Pike 2002 CP02
              |    `--Praentomobryidae S-AB08
              |         |--Cretacentomobrya Christiansen & Nascimbene 2006 S-AB08
              |         `--Preantomobrya Christiansen & Nascimbene 2006 S-AB08
              `--Tomoceroidea S-AB08
                   |--Tomoceridae G91
                   `--Oncopoduridae [Oncopodurinae, Oncopodurini] S-AB08
                        |--Harlomillsia Bonet 1944 [incl. Millsia Bonet 1943 non Womersley 1942] CB80b
                        |    `--*H. oculata (Mills 1937) [=Oncopodura oculata, Millsia oculata] CB80b
                        `--Oncopodura Carl & Lebedinsky 1905 CB80b
                             |--*O. hamata Carl & Lebedinsky 1905 CB80b
                             |--O. alpa Christiansen & Bellinger 1980 CB80b
                             |--O. cruciata Bonet 1943 CB80b
                             |--O. fadriquei Jordana & Baquero 2012 DB21
                             |--O. hoffi Christiansen & Bellinger 1980 CB80b
                             |--O. iowae Christiansen 1961 CB80b
                             |--O. prietoi Bonet 1943 CB80b
                             |--O. tiegsi G91
                             `--O. tunica Christiansen & Bellinger 1980 CB80b

Collembola incertae sedis:
  Permobrya mirabilis CP02
  Setocerura CP02
  Procerura CP02
  Absolonia Börner 1901 KM07
  Stachiomella allusa Wray 1952 (n. d.) CB81
  Symphelos solidago Rafinesque 1820 (n. d.) CB81
  Geracus tubifer Matthew 1897 CB81
  Palaeosminthurus juliae Pierce & Gibron 1962 CB81
  Planocephalus aselloides Scudder 1884 CB81
  Podurites saltator Matthew 1895 CB81
  Pygmarrhopalites maestrazgoensis Jordana, Fadrique & Baquero 2012 DB21

Neelus (Megalothorax Willem 1900) C90, W39 [incl. Amerus Collinge & Shoebotham 1909 non Berlese 1896 W39]

Neelus (*Megalothorax) minimus (Willem 1900) CB81 [=Megalothorax minimus W39; incl. M. maculosus Maynard 1951 CB81, Amerus normani Collinge & Shoebotham 1909 W39]

*Podura aquatica Linnaeus 1758 [incl. P. granulata Macgillivray 1893, P. aquatica f. mimula Maynard 1951] CB80a

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BG06] Bretfeld, G., & A. Greigel. 2006. Acanthoneelidus nom. n. for the genus Acanthothorax Bredfeld & Griegel 1999 from northwestern Poland (Insecta, Collembola, Neelidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 86 (1): 46.

[C90] Christiansen, K. A. 1990. Insecta: Collembola. In: Dindal, D. L. (ed.) Soil Biology Guide pp. 965–995. John Wiley & Sones: New York.

[CB80a] Christiansen, K., & P. Bellinger. 1980a. The Collembola of North America north of the Rio Grande: A taxonomic analysis vol. 1. Introduction; general; families Poduridae and Hypogastruridae. Grinnell College: Grinnell (Iowa).

[CB80b] Christiansen, K., & P. Bellinger. 1980b. The Collembola of North America north of the Rio Grande: A taxonomic analysis vol. 3. Family Entomobryidae. Grinnell College: Grinnell (Iowa).

[CB81] Christiansen, K., & P. Bellinger. 1981. The Collembola of North America north of the Rio Grande: A taxonomic analysis vol. 4. Families Neelidae and Sminthuridae; glossary; bibliography; index. Grinnell College: Grinnell (Iowa).

[CP02] Christiansen, K., & E. Pike. 2002. Cretaceous Collembola (Arthropoda, Hexapoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Canada. Cretaceous Research 23: 165–188.

[DB21] Derkarabetian, S., C. M. Baker, M. Hedin, C. E. Prieto & G. Giribet. 2021. Phylogenomic re-evaluation of Triaenonychoidea (Opiliones: Laniatores), and systematics of Triaenonychidae, including new families, genera and species. Invertebrate Systematics 35: 133–157.

[G91] Greenslade, P. J. 1991. Collembola (springtails). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers vol. 1 pp. 252–264. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.

[KM07] Kury, A. B., & A. C. Mendes. 2007. Taxonomic status of the European genera of Travuniidae (Arachnida, Opiliones, Laniatores). Munis Entomology & Zoology 2 (1): 1–14.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms' General Textbook of Entomology 10^th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

[S-AB08] Soto-Adames, F. N., J.-A. Barra, K. Christiansen & R. Jordana. 2008. Suprageneric classification of Collembola Entomobryomorpha. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 101 (3): 501–513.

[W39] Womersley, H. 1939. Primitive Insects of South Australia: Silverfish, springtails, and their allies. South Australian Branch of the British Science Guild: Adelaide.

Last updated: 3 June 2022.