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Journal article

Taxonomic review and phylogenetic analysis of fifteen North American Entomobrya (Collembola, Entomobryidae), including four new species

Verified against a registry Peer-reviewed paper

Katz AD, Giordano R, Soto-Adames F. 2015. ZooKeys 525: 1-75

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How it was checked

Checked on Oct 22, 2026 by Crossref. The registry returned: Taxonomic review and phylogenetic analysis of fifteen North American Entomobrya (Collembola, Entomobryidae), including four new species.

Where this source is used

Cited by 41 statements

Chaeta

  • A bristle or hair on the body that sits in a small socket. Their number, length and position help to tell species apart. (at Methods, eye patch setae)

Character

  • A feature you can check on an animal, such as whether it has eyes or scales. Each character has states, for example present or absent. (at Methods, characters)

Colour morph

  • A colour form of one species. Some species vary a great deal in colour and pattern, so colour alone cannot prove a separate species. (at Entomobrya assuta, description)

Dimorphic Springtail

  • The female of Entomobrya atrocincta looks almost the same as E. multifasciata, so animals of the two cultures can be confused. (at E. multifasciata remarks)
  • The female of Entomobrya atrocincta looks almost the same as E. multifasciata, so animals of the two cultures can be confused. (at E. multifasciata remarks)
  • The two species are separated under a microscope with a table of setae characters. Variation in the setae of E. atrocincta hides most of the differences. (at E. multifasciata remarks)
  • The two species are separated under a microscope with a table of setae characters. Variation in the setae of E. atrocincta hides most of the differences. (at E. multifasciata remarks)

Entomobrya

  • Entomobrya have 8+8 eyes, set within black or dark blue patches of pigment. (at Results, genus diagnosis)
  • Entomobrya antennae are not divided into rings. (at Results, genus diagnosis)
  • Entomobrya have no scales on the body. (at Results, genus diagnosis)
  • Entomobrya have a full furca ending in a two-toothed mucro. (at Results, genus diagnosis)

Entomobrya assuta

  • A North American springtail with a highly variable colour pattern. The Varicolored Springtail of the hobby is a patternless culture that a collembologist linked to it. (at E. assuta description)
  • The pattern is highly variable and often has no clear discrete forms. Black or dark blue pigment usually sits on a white, yellow, orange or light purple background. All forms studied have a dark band across the hind edge of the second abdominal segment. The antennae are usually entirely purple. (at E. assuta description)
  • The body is flattened from top to bottom. (at E. assuta description)
  • The setae on the head, thorax and abdomen are much fewer than in other Entomobrya of the region. Only one other species, Entomobrya citrensis, shares this reduction, and the two look alike. (at E. assuta remarks)
  • The authors think it is an intrusion of a southern subtropical or tropical Entomobrya lineage into North America. Its reduced setae are closer to Caribbean species than to other North American ones. (at E. assuta remarks)
  • It is endemic to North America. (at E. assuta distribution)

Entomobrya atrocincta

  • A springtail whose males and females look so different that they were once drawn as separate forms. Males are orange with one dark band and females are pale with several. (at E. atrocincta description)
  • Males and females differ in colour and shape. Males are slim and nearly cylindrical with a bright orange background and a thick black band over the hind part of the second thoracic segment, the third and the first abdominal segments, though the band is sometimes missing. Females are slightly flattened and slightly larger, with a white or light yellow background and black, dark blue or purple crossbands from the second thoracic to the fourth abdominal segment. (at E. atrocincta description)
  • The colour pattern of the female is almost impossible to tell from that of Entomobrya multifasciata and is very close to Entomobrya intermedia and Entomobrya nivalis. A table of setae characters separates them under a microscope. (at E. atrocincta remarks and Table 3)
  • It occurs in North America and Hawaii, and possibly Europe. In Hawaii the collections include animals identified as Entomobrya multifasciata, which suggests the species is also dimorphic on Pacific islands. Palearctic records may be of the other species. (at E. atrocincta distribution)

Entomobrya multifasciata

  • A yellow springtail with five dark crossbands on the back, sold in the hobby as the Tiger or Little Tiger Springtail. (at E. multifasciata description)
  • The background is yellow. Black, dark brown or purple pigment forms five crossbands along the hind edges of the second and third thoracic segments and the first three abdominal segments. The fourth abdominal segment varies, with two triangular patches or a W-shaped mark, and the last two segments are mostly dark. The antennae are light brown or purple and darker toward the tip. (at E. multifasciata description)
  • The body is oval and cylindrical. (at E. multifasciata description)
  • The colour pattern and setae of this species are almost the same as those of the female of Entomobrya atrocincta. Variation in the setae of E. atrocincta hides most of the differences, so the two are separated with a table of setae characters under a microscope. (at E. multifasciata remarks)
  • The colour pattern and setae of this species are almost the same as those of the female of Entomobrya atrocincta. Variation in the setae of E. atrocincta hides most of the differences, so the two are separated with a table of setae characters under a microscope. (at E. multifasciata remarks)
  • Older works list it from North America, Hawaii, Europe and Russia. The 2015 revision treats the North American and Hawaiian records as questionable, because the female form of Entomobrya atrocincta looks the same. The redescription used animals from the Azores and Madeira. (at E. multifasciata distribution and material examined)
  • A North American culture sold as a Tiger Springtail has to be checked against both Entomobrya multifasciata and the female form of Entomobrya atrocincta. No published check of a hobby culture was found. (at E. multifasciata distribution)

Entomobrya unostrigata

  • A pale springtail with one thin dark stripe along the back, an introduced species now widespread in North America and sold as the Cotton Springtail. (at E. unostrigata description and distribution)
  • The background is white, pale green or yellow. Purple or black pigment forms a thin stripe down the middle of the back from the second thoracic to the fifth abdominal segment, thicker over the third thoracic to third abdominal segments, with a line of patches along each side and scattered spots. The last two abdominal segments usually have no dark pigment. The legs and furca are white or light purple, and the antennae carry light purple pigment. (at E. unostrigata description)
  • The body is relatively robust and cylindrical. (at E. unostrigata description)
  • The two hindmost eyes in each patch, G and H, are enlarged and about as big as the others. This is unusual among North American Entomobrya, where G and H are small. (at E. unostrigata description and remarks)
  • The fourth abdominal segment usually carries one or two conspicuous rows of large setae on its front half. Many Palearctic Entomobrya and the genus Homidia share this pattern, but other North American Entomobrya do not. (at E. unostrigata remarks)
  • It is a recently introduced species with a wide distribution in North America. It also occurs in the Palearctic and in Australia. Many North American records may be misidentifications of similar species. (at E. unostrigata distribution and remarks)

Eyepatch

  • The patch on each side of the head that holds the eyes. It is usually dark, which makes it easy to find with a loupe. (at Methods, eye patch setae)

Little Tiger Springtail

  • The female of Entomobrya atrocincta has almost the same colour pattern and setae as E. multifasciata. The 2015 revision treats North American records of E. multifasciata as questionable for that reason. (at E. multifasciata remarks)
  • The female of Entomobrya atrocincta has almost the same colour pattern and setae as E. multifasciata. The 2015 revision treats North American records of E. multifasciata as questionable for that reason. (at E. multifasciata remarks)
  • The two species are separated under a microscope with a table of setae characters. Variation in the setae of E. atrocincta hides most of the differences. (at E. multifasciata remarks)
  • The two species are separated under a microscope with a table of setae characters. Variation in the setae of E. atrocincta hides most of the differences. (at E. multifasciata remarks)

Macrochaeta

  • A long, strong bristle. The pattern of long bristles on the head and body is one of the main features specialists compare. (at Methods, characters)

Sexual dimorphism

  • Males and females that look different. In Entomobrya atrocincta the sexes differ in both colour pattern and body shape. (at Entomobrya atrocincta, description)