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Tasmanian collembola of the family Sminthuridre (Globular Springtails)

Womersley, Herbert 1931 , 'Tasmanian collembola of the family Sminthuridre (Globular Springtails)' , Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania , pp. 1-11 .

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Abstract

The Collembola, or Springtails, are one of the lesser known
orders of the Insecta, differing from all others in possessing
not more than six abdominal segments and in having in most
species a peculiar forked spring by which they are able to
leap with great agility.
They are a very primitive group of insects, entirely
apterous, and have recently been shown to be the earliest
fossil insects.
The Collembola have been divided by Borner into two
suborders, ( 1) the ARTHROPLEONA, comprising the more elongated forms in which the segmentation of the thorax and
abdomen is well defined, and (2) the SYMPHYPLEONA or
globular foTms with little or no segmentation.
The latter suborder contains two families, the NEELIDAE,
a group of peculiar insects with antennre much shorter than
the head and inserted low down on the face, and the SMINTHURIDAE,
with antennae longer than the head and situated
well up towards the vertex.
To this latter family belong most of the Collembola
which are of serious economic importance. Owing to the
immense numbers in which they usually occur the amount
of damage caused to clover and other crops is often of very
serious importance.

Item Type: Article
Authors/Creators:Womersley, Herbert
Keywords: Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library
Journal or Publication Title: Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
ISSN: 0080-4703
Collections: Royal Society Collection > Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Additional Information:

Copyright Royal Society of Tasmania

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