posted on 2023-11-22, 05:09authored byHerbert Womersley
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.
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Publication title
Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania