Under Construction

Electrentomidae

Emilie Bess and Kevin P. Johnson

Containing group: Troctomorpha

Introduction

Electrentomidae includes four genera and 8 species known from Africa, Central America, and South America.

Characteristics

Head:

Antennae have 15 segments.
Frontal sutures are absent.

Legs:

Tarsi have 3 segments.

Wings:

Forewing pterostigma is closed basally.
Forewing vein 2A joins wing margin or vein 1A.
Hindwing vein Rs lacks first section.

Male:

Phallosome tip (aedeagus) is divided medially.
Parameres curve toward each other posteriorly.

Female:

Subgenital plate has a T-shaped sclerite.
External valve of gonapophyses is slightly divided apically.

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

Molecular analysis including one species of Epitroctes placed family Electrentomidae in infraorder Amphientometae (18S nDNA; Johnson et al. 2004), but relationships within the family have not been investigated with molecular data.

References

Johnson, K. P., K. Yoshizawa, and V. S. Smith. 2004. Multiple origins of parasitism in lice. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 271:1771-1776.

Lienhard, C. and C.N. Smithers. 2002. Psocoptera (Insecta) World Catalogue and Bibliography. Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Geneva, Switzerland.

Mockford, E.L. 1967. The Electrentomoid Psocids (Psocoptera). Psyche 74: 118-165.

Mockford, E. L. 1993. North American Psocoptera (Insecta). Gainesville, Florida: Sandhill Crane Press.

Smithers, C.N. 1972. The classification and phylogeny of the Psocoptera. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 14: 1–349.

About This Page

Emilie Bess
Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA

Kevin P. Johnson
Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Emilie Bess at and Kevin P. Johnson at

First online 25 March 2009
Content changed 25 March 2009

Citing this page:

Bess, Emilie and Kevin P. Johnson. 2009. Electrentomidae. Version 25 March 2009 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Electrentomidae/30263/2009.03.25 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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