Meinertellidae

Meinertellidae Temporal range:
Rock Bristletail
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Archaeognatha
Family:	Meinertellidae Verhoeff, 1910
Genera
Hypomachilodes Machilinus Machiloides

The Meinertellidae are a small family of basal insects belonging to the order Archaeognatha. They are sometimes known as rock bristletails. These insects can be distinguished from members of the other Archaeognatha family, Machilidae, by the lack of scales at the base of the legs and antennae, head, and palps; along with possession of small abdominal sternites protruding slightly between the coxal plates. They can also be distinguished by patches of reddish to violet-brown hypodermal pigment on the appendages.

Meinertellidae currently contains more than 170 species over 19 genera, clustered into the following groups: Machiloides, Machilinus, Hypomachiloides, Machilontus, and Meinertellus.

Distribution

These insects are principally found in the southern hemisphere, and can be found in rain forests, regular forests, and on coastal cliffs.

Taxonomy

• †Cretaceobrevibusantennis Chen and Su 2017 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
• †Cretaceomachilis Sturm and Poinar 1998 Lebanese amber, Barremian, Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
• †Glaesimeinertellus Sánchez-García et al. 2019 Lebanese amber, Barremian
• Macropsontus Silvestri 1911 Lebanese amber, Barremian, Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
• Neomachilellus Wygodzinsky 1953 Neotropics, fossils known from Miocene Dominican and Chiapas ambers.
• †Nullmeinertellus Zhang et al. 2018 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
• †Unimeinertellus Zhang et al. 2018 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian

See also

• ITIS page on Meinertellidae
• Basal hexapods