Family CHELISOCHIDAE

Chelisochidae

© Copyright T. Nolan. CSIRO Entomology.

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Introduction

The Chelisochidae are a distinct family comprising three subfamilies, 16 genera and 96 species (Steinmann 1993). They are restricted to the tropical parts of the Afrotropical, Oriental and Australasian regions, except for the tramp species, Chelisoches morio (Fabricius), which is cosmopolitan.

Only the subfamily Chelisochinae and four genera, Chelisoches Scudder, Proreus Burr, Hamaxas Burr and Lamprophorella Mjöberg, are recorded in Australia. The two latter genera are each represented by one species, both of which also occur in the Oriental Region. Proreus is also represented by one species, P. duruoides Hebard, restricted to the tropical parts of Queensland. Five species in Chelisoches are listed, three endemic in the tropics of Queensland or the Northern Territory.

Chelisochids are robust, small to large, and mostly dark species with the body weakly depressed, sometimes with bright markings on the dorsum. They are characterised by the ventral projection of the second tarsal segment beneath the third tarsal segment. The male genitalia are forficuloid, with one genital lobe, the virga having an expanded basal vesicle. The forceps are more or less symmetrical, often elongate, and with rows of teeth on the inner margins of each cercus. The form of the pygidium is often diagnostic at the species level (Steinmann 1993).

Some chelisochid species are known to be predators of leaf-mining insect larvae. Rentz & Kevan (1991) report that the Australian species of Chelisoches Scudder are found in the tightly overlapping leaf bases of species of Pandanus Linnaeus.

General References

Rentz, D.C.F. & Kevan, D.K.McE. 1991. Dermaptera (Earwigs). pp. 360-368 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press Vol. 1 xiii 542 pp.

Steinmann, H. 1993. Dermaptera. Eudermaptera II. Das Tierreich 108: xxii 1-711

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