Ctenolepismatinae, Mendes, 1991

Molero-Baltanás, Rafael, Gaju-Ricart, Miquel & Smith, Graeme B., 2024, New insights in the taxonomy of Lepismatidae (Insecta, Zygentoma) with an updated key to genera and future challenges, European Journal of Taxonomy 943 (1), pp. 80-126 : 118

Ctenolepismatinae

(about 190 species in 20 genera, Fig. 21 )

A large and widespread subfamily including several peridomestic pests of minor importance. Different genera dominate in different regions, e.g., Ctenolepisma in Africa/Eurasia, Acrotelsella in Australia and Stylifera as Neotropical. Fossil specimens have been described from 99 Ma Burmese amber and 20–25 Ma Dominican amber.

Much work is still required including collection and examination of existing material within museum collections. This work would benefit from molecular data which is quite limited at the moment, and the use of scanning electron microscopy, particularly of scales and the distribution of sensilla, to establish more robust phylogenies. The genera Ctenolepisma and Thermobia are under revision, and they will probably be divided into several genera, but not following the criteria of Kaplin (1993). The genus Acrotelsella is also under revision; the first results are the works by Smith and Mitchell ( Smith 2015; Smith & Mitchell 2022, etc.) based on Australian species and Hazra et al. (2023) on an Indian species. The new genus described in this work contains the only known American species of the group.

Figures

Fig. 21. World distribution of representatives of the subfamily Ctenolepismatinae Mendes, 1991.