Tricholepidion

Tricholepidion
Specimen seen near Cazadero, California
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Zygentoma
Family: Lepidotrichidae
Genus: Tricholepidion
Wygodzinsky, 1961
Species:
T. gertschi
Binomial name
Tricholepidion gertschi
Wygodzinsky, 1961

Tricholepidion is a genus of wingless insect belonging to Zygentoma (silverfish and allies), with only a single described species T. gertschi, native to the northern coast of California in Western North America.[1] It lives under dead bark and in rotting wood of conifers in mesophytic forests.[2] It is alternatively considered the only living member of the family Lepidotrichidae, which also includes Lepidotrix from Eocene aged European amber, or the only member of the family Tricholepidiidae.[3] The taxonomic position of Tricholepidion is uncertain, in some molecular phylogenetics studies it has been recovered as less closely related to flying insects (Pterygota) than the rest of Zygentoma is, rendering Zygentoma paraphyletic.[1][4] Each compound eye contains ~40 ommatidia, and they have three ocelli.[1] Scales on the body are absent.[5] Unlike Archaeognatha and the other families of Zygentoma, which have three- and sometimes two-segmented tarsi, they have five-segmented tarsi like many winged insects.[6]

  1. ^ a b c Blanke, Alexander; Koch, Markus; Wipfler, Benjamin; Wilde, Fabian; Misof, Bernhard (2014). "Head morphology of Tricholepidion gertschi indicates monophyletic Zygentoma". Frontiers in Zoology. 11 (1): 16. doi:10.1186/1742-9994-11-16. ISSN 1742-9994. PMC 3975249. PMID 24625269.
  2. ^ Wygodzinsky, Pedro (1961-09-01). "On a Surviving Representative of the Lepidotrichidae (Thysanura)". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 54 (5): 621–627. doi:10.1093/aesa/54.5.621. ISSN 1938-2901.
  3. ^ Grimaldi, David A. (March 2010). "400 million years on six legs: On the origin and early evolution of Hexapoda". Arthropod Structure & Development. 39 (2–3): 191–203. doi:10.1016/j.asd.2009.10.008. PMID 19883792.
  4. ^ Cucini, Claudio; Carapelli, Antonio; Brunetti, Claudia; Molero-Baltanás, Rafael; Gaju-Ricart, Miquel; Nardi, Francesco (2021-01-02). "Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of Neoasterolepisma foreli (Insecta: Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) and the phylogeny of basal Ectognatha". Mitochondrial DNA Part B. 6 (1): 119–121. doi:10.1080/23802359.2020.1848480. ISSN 2380-2359. PMC 7819114. PMID 33521283.
  5. ^ Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society, Volume 2
  6. ^ Evolution of the Insects