Protura
Protura | |
---|---|
Acerentomon sp. under stereomicroscope | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Clade: | Pancrustacea |
Subphylum: | Hexapoda |
Order: | Protura Silvestri, 1907 |
Families[1] | |
Acerentomata Eosentomata
Sinentomata
|
The Protura, or proturans, and sometimes nicknamed coneheads,[2][3] are very small (0.6–1.5mm long), soil-dwelling animals, so inconspicuous they were not noticed until the 20th century. The Protura constitute an order of hexapods that were previously regarded as insects, and sometimes treated as a class in their own right.[1][4][5]
Some evidence indicates the Protura are
There are close to 800 species, described in seven families. Nearly 300 species are contained in a single genus, Eosentomon.[1][9]
Morphology
Proturans have no eyes, wings, or antennae, and, lacking
Ecology
Proturans live chiefly in
The diet of proturans has not yet been sufficiently observed to be characterised. In laboratory culture, they may be fed
Proturan species which spend their lives near the soil surface generally produce one new generation of offspring each year; they also possess longer legs. Species living at deeper soil levels have shorter legs and tend to reproduce less seasonally. Some migratory proturan species move to deeper soil layers for the winter and ascend to shallower soil layers for the summer.[16]
Proturans play a role in soil formation and composition by speeding decomposition, helping in the breakdown of leaf litter and recycling nutrients into the soil.[19]
Development
The
In most proturan families, five developmental stages follow the egg stage: the prenymph hatches from the egg and has only weakly developed mouthparts and 8 abdominal segments; nymph I follows and has fully developed mouthparts; nymph II has 9 abdominal segments; "maturus junior" has 11 abdominal segments, and moults into the sexually mature adult.[10] Male individuals of the family Acerentomidae differ from this five-stage scheme, having an additional developmental stage, the preimago, which has partially developed genitalia and appears between the "maturus junior" and the adult stage.[10]
History
Proturans were first discovered in the early 20th century, when Filippo Silvestri and Antonio Berlese independently described the animals.[16] The first species to be described was Acerentomon doderoi, published in 1907 by Silvestri,[10] based on material found near Syracuse, New York.[12]
References
- ^ a b c Andrzej Szeptycki (2007). "Catalogue of the World Protura" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2009.
- ^ "Proturans / Coneheads". North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
- ^ "Order Protura - Coneheads". Iowa State University Department of Entomology. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
- ^ Charles S. Henry (2005). "Insect phylogeny". University of Connecticut. Archived from the original on 2006-09-05.
- ^ a b
Galli, Loris; Shrubovych, Julia; Bu, Yun; Zinni, Matteo (2018). "Genera of the Protura of the World: diagnosis, distribution, and key". ZooKeys (772): 1–45. PMID 30018507.
- ^ Ryuichiro Machida (2006). "Evidence from embryology for reconstructing the relationships of hexapod basal clades" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-20.
- PMID 16024395.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-412-49360-7.
- ^ G Pass & NU Szucsich (2011). "100 years of research on the Protura: many secrets still retained" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Christopher Tipping (2004). "Proturans". University of Florida.
- ^ CSIRO.
- ^ a b c d e f g John R. Meyer (March 5, 2005). "Protura". North Carolina State University. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008.
- ISBN 978-3-11-026263-6.
- PMID 30974866.
- ISBN 978-0-08-092090-0.
- ^ a b c d e "Gordon's Protura Page". November 11, 2005.
- ^ "Protura". Tree of Life Web Project. January 1, 2002. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007.
- ^ J. Krauß & W. Funke (1999). "Extraordinary high density of Protura in a windfall area of young spruce plants". Pedobiologia. 43: 44–46.
- ^ Behan-Pelletier, V.M. (1993). "Diversity of soil arthropods in Canada: systematic and ecological problems". In G.E. Ball; H.V. Danks (eds.). Systematics and Entomology: Diversity, Distribution, Adaptation and Application. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada. 165. Entomological Society of Canada. pp. 11–50.
External links
- Data related to Protura at Wikispecies
- Media related to Protura at Wikimedia Commons
- Proturans on the University of Florida / Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Featured Creatures website