Meinertellidae
Encyclopedia
Meinertellidae is a small family of basal
insect
s belonging to the order Archaeognatha
. They are sometimes known as rock bristletails. These insects can be distinguished from members of the other Archaeognatha family, Machilidae
, by the lack of scales at the base of the legs and antennae
.
Basal (phylogenetics)
In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...
insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s belonging to the order Archaeognatha
Archaeognatha
Archaeognatha is an order of wingless insects, also known as jumping bristletails. They are among the least evolutionarily changed insects, appearing in the Devonian period along with the arachnids. The name Archaeognatha is derived from Greek Archaeos meaning "ancient" and gnatha meaning "jaw"...
. They are sometimes known as rock bristletails. These insects can be distinguished from members of the other Archaeognatha family, Machilidae
Machilidae
Machilidae is a family of primitive insects belonging to the order Archaeognatha . There are around 250 described species worldwide. These insects are wingless, elongated and more or less cylindrical with a distinctive humped thorax and covered with tiny, close-fitting scales. The colour is usually...
, by the lack of scales at the base of the legs and antennae
Antenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
.