Psoquillidae
Emilie Bess and Kevin P. JohnsonIntroduction
The family Psoquillidae includes 5 genera and 27 families distributed worldwide. Many of the seven North American species were introduced at ports of entry; others have been found in warm climates of Florida, Texas, and California.
Characteristics
Synapomorphy
- In females, the presence of accessory bodies at the opening of spermatheca.
General Characters
- Head: Antennae have more than 20 segments without ringed sculpturing (annulations).
- Legs: Tarsi have 3 segments.
- Wings:
- Adults may have full-length or reduced wings; veins are always distinct.
- Forewing is rounded.
- Pterostigma is not thickened.
- Veins CuP and 1A meet wing margin separately (do not form nodulus).
- Male: Phallosome is open anteriorly with anteriorly diverging arms.
- Female:
- Gonapophyses are reduced:
- Dorsal valve is small or absent.
- Ventral valve is absent.
- External valve is elongate and hairy.
Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships
The monophyly of the family Psoquillidae is supported by one character in females: the presence of accessory bodies at the opening of spermatheca (Mockford 1993). The monophyly of Psoquillidae has not been studied with molecular techniques.
References
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.
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.
Smithers, C.N. 1972. The classification and phylogeny of the Psocoptera. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 14: 1–349.
Yoshizawa, K., C. Lienhard, and K.P. Johnson. 2006. Molecular systematics of the suborder Trogiomorpha (Insecta: Psocodea: ‘Psocoptera’). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 146: 287–299.
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
Page copyright © 2009 Emilie Bess and Kevin P. Johnson
All Rights Reserved.
- First online 18 March 2009
- Content changed 18 March 2009
Citing this page:
Bess, Emilie and Kevin P. Johnson. 2009. Psoquillidae. Version 18 March 2009 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Psoquillidae/14452/2009.03.18 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
