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Elipsocidae

Emilie Bess and Kevin P. Johnson taxon links [up-->]Cuneopalpus [up-->]Hemineura [up-->]Onychophallus [up-->]Telmopsocus [up-->]Palmicola [up-->]Psocophloea [up-->]Paedomorpha [up-->]Trichoelipsocus [up-->]Propsocus [up-->]Nepiomorpha [up-->]Kilauella [up-->]Nothopsocus [up-->]Moapsocus [up-->]Palistreptus [up-->]Lesneiinae [up-->]Clinopsocus [up-->]Sabulopsocus [up-->]Elipsocus [up-->]Howeanum [up-->]Metelipsocus [up-->]Villopsocus [up-->]Sandrapsocus [up-->]Antarctopsocus [up-->]Roesleria [up-->]Gondwanapsocus [up-->]Pentacladus [up-->]Drymopsocus [up-->]Spilopsocus [up-->]Sinelipsocus [up-->]Pseudopsocus [up-->]Yuntapsocinae [up-->]Ausysium [up-->]Reuterella Monophyly UncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertain[down<--]Homilopsocidea Interpreting the tree
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Containing group: Homilopsocidea

Introduction

The family Elipsocidae contains about 130 species in 33 genera distributed worldwide.  Nine species are known from North America in the genera Elipsocus, Cuneopalpus, Reuterella, Propsocus, and Nepiomorpha.  Two genera of Elipsocidae, Kilauella and Palistreptus, have diversified on the Hawaiian Islands and may include dozens of additional species that are yet undescribed.  

These are small to medium-sized bark lice (1-4.5 mm, nymphs 1-3 mm) with robust bodies.  Body colors are brown or blackish.  Elipsocids inhabit bark, stone surfaces, dead leaves, and leaf litter. Some species are sexually dimorphic (different body forms in male and female) or polymorphic (different body forms within a sex).

Characteristics

Synapomorphies:

The epistomal suture of the head has a broad internal ridge.
Hindwing marginal hairs are restricted between veins R2,3 and R4,5.
Tarsi have 3 segments in many species.

General characters:

How to Know the Family

Family Monophyly

Recent morphological analysis suggests that the monophyly of Elipsocidae is uncertain. The classification used here is based on the catalog by Leinhard and Smithers (2002) and supported by morphological analysis by Yoshizawa (2002). Morphological characters supporting monophyly include: the epistomal suture of the head has a broad internal ridge, the hindwing marginal hairs are restricted between veins R2+3 and R4+5, and many species have three-segmented tarsi (Yoshizawa 2002).  Schimdt and New (2004), however, suggested that four genera should be excluded from the family based on morphological data: Palmicola moved to Mesoposcidae, Sabulopsocus and Moapsocus moved to Sabulopsocidae (a new family), and Drymopsocus incertae sedis. 

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

In molecular analysis of nuclear gene 18S, two species of Elipsocidae (Nepiomorpha sp. and Kilauella sp.) were found to be sister to each other (Johnson et al. 2004), but relationships within the family have not been investigated further with molecular data.  Additional work is needed to clarify the relationships within Elipsocidae.

Other Names for Elipsocidae

References

Johnson, K. P. & E. L. Mockford. 2003. Molecular Systematics of Psocomorpha (Psocoptera). Systematic Entomology 28: 409-40.

Johnson, K. P., K. Yoshizawa, and V. S. Smith. 2004. Multiple origins of parasitism in lice. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 271:1771-1776.

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,

New, T.R. 2005. Psocids, Psocoptera (Booklice and barklice), 2nd edition: Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects. Vol. 1, Part 7. Royal Entomological Society, London, UK.

Schmidt, E.R. and T. R. New. 2004. A systematic and phylogenetic revision of the family Elipsocidae (Insecta : Psocoptera), with the erection of two new families: Lesneiidae and Sabulopsocidae. Invertebrate Systematics 18: 157 – 213.

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.

Yoshizawa, K. 2002. Phylogeny and higher classification of suborder Psocomorpha (Insecta: Psocodea:'Psocoptera'). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136: 371-400.

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

All Rights Reserved.

Citing this page:

Bess, Emilie and Kevin P. Johnson. 2009. Elipsocidae. Version 25 March 2009 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Elipsocidae/30252/2009.03.25 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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