Protura

Common names: proturans

Probability of encounter: medium

Quarantine importance: no known importance. 

Similarity to mites: none, other than small size and lack of antennae.  Unlike mites, proturans are clearly segmented.

Morphology

Normal adult length: <2 mm
Body tagmata: head, thorax, abdomen (9-12 segments, styli on S1-3, cerci absent)
Eyes: absent (pseudoculi present)
Antennae: absent
Mouthparts: entognathous, mandibles stylettiform, maxillary palps (3-seg.) and labial palps (1-seg.) present.
Legs: 3 thoracic pairs (5 segments), legs I sensory, legs II-III ambulatory; single claw + ventral empodium.
 
Comments: Proturans lack antennae, but have antenniform front legs. Their abdomens are long and composed of numerous segments (added developmentally). The first 3 segments have small styli, but no collophore or furcula is present.  They are common in soil and humus, especially in forest systems.

Diversity: ca. 500 species in 4-8 families

References

University of Florida (Entomology & Nematology) – Protura http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/proturans.htm

North Carolina State University – Taxonomic Index of Resources – Protura http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/agnic/sys_entomology/taxon/protura/index.html
 
Tree of Life – Protura (first tail) http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Protura&contgroup=Hexapoda
 

Copeland, TP & Imadaté, G. 1990. Insecta: Protura. pp. 911-933, in DL Dindal (ed) Soil Biology Guide. John Wiley & Sons: Brisbane.

Imadate, G. 1991. Protura.  The Insects of Australia, Volume 1. pp. 265-268. CSIRO: University of Melbourne Press.

Nosek, J. 1978. Key and diagnoses of proturan genera of the world. Annot. Zool. Bot. Bratislava 122: 1-54.

Nosek, J. 1973. The European Protura: Their Taxonomy, Ecology and Distribution with Keys for Determination. Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Geneva, Switzerland. 345 pp.

Tuxen, SL. 1964. The Protura. A Revision of the Species of the World with Keys for Determination. Hermann, Paris. 360 pp.

Yin, W.-Y. 1983. Grouping the known genera of Protura under eight families with keys for determination. Contr. Shanghai Inst. Ent. 3:151-163.

Yin, W.-Y. 1984. A new phylogeny of Protura with approach to its origin and systematic position. Scientia Sin. Ser. B 27:149-160.