Family PHILOTARSIDAE

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Introduction

Of the five genera and 98 species in the Philotarsidae, four genera and 23 species are listed for the Australian fauna, including Christmas Island (Smithers 1995). They are mostly inhabitants of bark.

Philotarsids have 13-segmented antennae and nearly always 3-segmented tarsi; the claws have a tooth. The venation is similar to that of the Caeciliidae. In the forewing the branches of the veins have more than one row of setae with M+CuA having one row; many of the marginal setae cross each other. The gonapophyses have a narrow ventral valve, a large, broad dorsal valve, somewhat rectangular without a strong preapical lobe and a large setose external valve. When the phallosome has sclerifications of the penial bulb they are not in the form of strong rods but usually take the form of rugose areas. All species for which information is available lay their eggs singly, encrusted with debris and covered with a few silken threads.

General References

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

Schmidt, E.R. & New, T.R. 2008. The Psocoptera (Insecta) of Tasmania, Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 65: 71–152 [126] (key to genera recorded for Tasmania)

Smithers, C.N. 1996. Psocoptera. pp. 1-79 in Wells, A. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 26. Psocoptera, Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing xiii 418 pp.

Thornton, I.W.B. 1980. Plate tectonics and the distribution of the insect family Philotarsidae (Order Psocoptera) in the southwest Pacific. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 31: 250-266 13 figs

Thornton, I.W.B. 1981. The systematics, phylogeny and biogeography of the psocopteran family Philotarsidae. Systematic Entomology 6: 413-452 54 figs

Thornton, I.W.B. & New, T.R. 1977. The Philotarsidae (Insecta: Psocoptera) of Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 54: 1-62 147 figs

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