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Larva of Ptinella sp. (Coleoptera: Staphylinoidea: Ptiliidae). Head, fronto-laretal view. Scale - 0.05 mm.

This is one of four drawings of the head of a really minute Ptinella larva, which I did for a MS (co-authored by Rolf G. Beutel) describing external and internal morphology of this species. Among about 600 Ptiliid species described, larvae are known only for about 15, which makes less than 3%. Note the scale: this line is 1/20 of millimeter! Because of this really small size of the object, I consider this drawing as the most technically difficult which I have ever done.

To see the parent of this larva::

Adult

More to see on Internet about PTILIIDAE:

Tree of Life: Ptiliidae

MORE to read about Ptiliid LARVAE:

Grebennikov V.V. & R.G. Beutel (2002): External and internal morphology of Ptinella larva (Staphylinoidea: Ptiliidae). Arthropod Structure and Development: 31: 157-172. Full Text (

1.5 Mb).

Dybas H. S. (1976) The larval characters of featherwing and limulodid beetles and their family relationships in the Staphylinoidea (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae and Limulodidae). Fieldiana: Zoology 70(3), 29-78.

Dybas H.S. (1991) Family Ptiliidae. In: Stehr F.W. (Ed.), Immature Insects, vol. 2. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., Dubuque, Iowa, pp. 144-658.

Costa C., Vanin S.A. and Casari-Chen S.A. (1988) Larvas de Coleoptera do Brasil. Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo. 282 pp. + 165 plates.

Kilian A. and Burakowski B. (2000) A description of the late-instar larva of Nossidium pilosellum (Marsham, 1802) (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae). Genus 11(4): 527-539.

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