Ectopsocidae
Encyclopedia
Ectopsocidae is a family
of Psocoptera
(book lice or bark lice) belonging to the suborder Psocomorpha. Members of the family are characterised by their absence of an areola postica in their wings, like in the family Peripsocidae. The family includes fewer than 200 species, most of them in the genus Ectopsocus.
These are brown, small-sized bark lice (1.5-2.5 mm, both nymphs and adults) with or without markings on wings.
The following are the distinctive features of these family members:
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of Psocoptera
Psocoptera
Psocoptera are an order of insects that are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies. They first appeared in the Permian period, 295–248 million years ago. They are often regarded as the most primitive of the hemipteroids. Their name originates from the Greek word psokos meaning...
(book lice or bark lice) belonging to the suborder Psocomorpha. Members of the family are characterised by their absence of an areola postica in their wings, like in the family Peripsocidae. The family includes fewer than 200 species, most of them in the genus Ectopsocus.
Distribution
The family includes fewer than 200 species, most of them in the genus Ectopsocus distributed worldwide with highest diversity in Asia. In the genera Ectopsocus and Ectopsocopsis fourteen species are known from North America .Description
Members of the family are characterised by their absence of an areola postica in their wings, like in the family Peripsocidae.These are brown, small-sized bark lice (1.5-2.5 mm, both nymphs and adults) with or without markings on wings.
Distinctive Features
The following are the distinctive features of these family members:
- Robust, small-bodied bark lice: 1.5-2.5 mm in length.
- Forewings are short, broad, and held in horizontal position (rather than tent-like as in other psocids).
- Forewing pterostigma is rectangular.
- Forewing areola postica is absent.
- Hindwing veins Rs and M are connected by crossvein.
Sources
- Lienhard, C. & Smithers, C. N. 2002. Psocoptera (Insecta): World Catalogue and Bibliography. Instrumenta Biodiversitatis, vol. 5. Muséum d'histoire naturelle, Genève.
- http://tolweb.org/Ectopsocidae/14472
- [Johnson, K. P. & E. L. Mockford. 2003. Molecular Systematics of Psocomorpha (Psocoptera). Systematic Entomology 28: 409-40.]
- [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. 1993. North American Psocoptera (Insecta). Gainesville, Florida: Sandhill Crane Press.]
- [New, T.R. 2005. Psocids, Psocoptera (Booklice and barklice), 2nd edition: Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects. Vol. 1, Part 7. Royal Entomological Society, London, UK.]
- [Smithers, C. N. 1996. Psocoptera. Pp. 1-80, 363-372 (Index) in Wells A. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 26. Psocoptera, Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, Australia.]
- [Yoshizawa, K. 2002. Phylogeny and higher classification of suborder Psocomorpha (Insecta: Psocodea:'Psocoptera'). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136: 371-400]