On the head morphology of Lepiceridae (Coleoptera: Myxophaga) and the systematic position of the family and suborder

Title:

On the head morphology of Lepiceridae (Coleoptera: Myxophaga) and the systematic position of the family and suborder

Creator:

Anton, Eric and Beutel, Rolf G.

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:a3379054-7e42-4670-ad0d-9618f58f48eb
uuid:a3379054-7e42-4670-ad0d-9618f58f48eb

Subject:

Lepiceridae, head morphology, systematic position, and function

Type:

article, model:article, and TEXT

Description:

Adult head structures of Lepicerus inaequalis were examined in detail and interpreted functionally and phylogenetically. The monogeneric family clearly belongs to Myxophaga. A moveable process on the left mandible is an autapomorphy of the suborder. Even though Lepiceridae is the "basal" sistergroup of the remaining three myxophagan families, it is likely the group which has accumulated most autapomorphic features, e.g. tuberculate surface structure, internalised antennal insertion, and a specific entognathous condition. Adults of Lepiceridae and other myxophagan groups possess several features which are also present in larvae (e.g., premental papillae, semimembranous mandibular lobe). This is probably related to a very similar life style and has nothing to do with "desembryonisation". Lepiceridae and other myxophagans share a complex and, likely, derived character of the feeding apparatus with many polyphagan groups (e.g., Staphyliniformia). The mandibles are equipped with large molae and setal brushes. The latter interact with hairy processes or lobes of the epi- and hypopharynx. This supports a sistergroup relationship between both suborders.

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
policy:public

Source:

European Journal of Entomology | 2006 Volume:103 | Number:1

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false