Meinertellidae
| Meinertellidae Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Rock bristletail[1] | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Archaeognatha |
| Family: | Meinertellidae Verhoeff, 1910 |
| Genera | |
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.[2]
Members of Archaeognatha are generally petrophilous ("rock-loving"), but species of Meinertellidae living in the Amazon has adapted to a life among the leaf litter on the forest floor, on the tree trunks and up in the canopy. In this wet environment, their eggs have a tolerance for being submerged in water.[3]
Meinertellidae currently contains more than 170 species over 19 genera, clustered into the following groups: Machiloides, Machilinus, Hypomachiloides, Machilontus, and Meinertellus. [2]
Distribution[edit]
These insects are principally found in the southern hemisphere, and can be found in rain forests, regular forests, and on coastal cliffs.
Taxonomy[edit]
- †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[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Cirrus Digital: Rock Bristletail - Family Meinertellidae
- ^ a b Song, Zhi-Shun (2006-04-19). "Machilontus (s. str.) medogensis Song & Huang, sp. nov. from Tibet, the northernmost record of the genus Machilontis Silvestri, 1912 and the first record of the family Meinertellidae (Insecta: Microcoryphia: Machiloidea) in China". Zootaxa. 1175 (1). doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1175.1. ISSN 1175-5334.
- ^ On the natural history and ecology of Meinertellidae (Archaeognatha, Insecta) from dryland and inundation forests of Central Amazonia - CORE
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