Abstract
Traditionally the groups included in the term “apterygote hexapods,” namely, the Collembola, Protura, Diplura, and Thysanura (including Microcoryphia and Zygentoma), were considered as orders of primitively wingless insects and placed in the subclass Apterygota (Ametabola). They exhibit the following common features: lack of wings, lack of a pleural sulcus on the thoracic segments, presence of pregenital abdominal appendages, slight or absent metamorphosis, and indirect sperm transfer. As more information on their structure and habits has become available, it has become apparent that (1) their status as insects (except for Thysanura) is doubtful, and (2) the relationship of the groups with each other is more distant than originally believed. Several authors have therefore recommended that the insectan subclass Apterygota be reserved solely for the Thysanura and that the Collembola, Protura, and Diplura each be given the rank of class. These three groups differ fundamentally from insects in several features, for example, they are entognathous, have intrinsic musculature in the antennae, and lack compound eyes which are characteristic of most insects, at least in the adult stage. The Collembola are probably furthest removed from the winged insects. They possess only six abdominal segments, a postantennal sensory organ similar to the organ of Tömösvary found in myriapods, gonads with lateral (rather than apical) germaria, and eggs in which there is total cleavage. Noninsectan features of the Protura are the absence of antennae (perhaps a secondary condition associated with their soil-dwelling habit), the occurrence of anamorphosis, and a genital aperture that opens behind the eleventh segment.
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© 1980 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Gillott, C. (1980). Apterygote Hexapods. In: Entomology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6918-3_5
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