Family ECTOPSOCIDAE

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Introduction

The family Ectopsocidae comprises three genera and 163 species, among which 34 species, all referred to Ectopsocus McLachlan, are listed for the Australian fauna. Ectopsocids are nearly all inhabitants of dried leaves, dead flower heads and leaf litter. Several species are often found together and in very large populations. Leaves killed and dried by bush fires appear to be less likely to support populations of ectopsocids than leaves which have died naturally.

Ectopsocids have 13-segmented antennae and 2-segmented tarsi. The claws lack a tooth and the pulvillus is fine. The forewings are short, broad and held in a more nearly horizontal position than in most Psocoptera; the pterostigma is somewhat rectangular and usually has the hind margin nearly parallel to the wing margin; the veins and margin are setose, although sometimes only sparsely so. In the hind wing the media and radial sector are joined by a crossvein in most species. The ninth tergite of the male has a strong transverse 'comb'. The epiproct also frequently has combs and rugose areas. The phallosome has very complex, often strongly asymmetrical, sclerotisations of the penial bulb. The gonapophyses of the female are complete, with a pointed ventral valve, an often triangular dorsal valve and an elongated, parallel-sided external valve which is setose. The eggs are smooth, laid in groups and covered with silken threads but without debris.

General References

Broadhead, E. & Richards, A.M. 1982. The Psocoptera of East Africa—a taxonomic and ecological survey. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London 17: 137-216 143 figs

Enderlein, G. 1903. Die Copeognathen des indo-australischen Faunengebietes. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici (Zoologica) 1: 179-344 12 figs pls iii-xiv

Garcia Aldrete, A.N. 1991. The Mexican species of Ectopsocus (Psocoptera: Ectopsocidae) and an analysis of the distribution of the genus. Anales del Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional de Mexico Serie Zoología 62(1): 57-96 69 figs

Thornton, I.W.B. & Wong, S.K. 1968. The Peripsocid fauna (Psocoptera) of the Oriental Region and the Pacific. Pacific Insects Monographs 19: 1-158 302 figs

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