Archaeognatha
Felsenspringer
The cliff divers ( Archaeognatha ) are an order of insects ( Insecta ). Of the 450 known species of the group are 15 widespread in Central Europe, all of which are assigned to the Machilidae.
Features
Most types of 9 to 18 mm long, the type Machilis ingens reached a total length of about 23 mm.
The body of the rockhopper is staffed with mostly shiny scales, striking are the large compound eyes that meet in the middle on the head. The antennae are very long and may have up to 250 individual members. Other striking features are the long, serving as mouthparts Labialtaster.
The second to ninth segments of the abdomen (abdomen ) each wearing a pair, moving extremities rest ( Stylus ) and flat Coxopodite. The first seven abdominal segments also have so-called Coxalbläschen that are created in pairs and ausstülpbar. In the abdomen, the animals carry three long and multi-unit caudal appendages consisting of the paired cerci and the unpaired Terminalfilum.
Way of life
The species of rockhopper found mainly in moist and rocky areas, for example in the splash zone of the sea or on rocky slopes, on cushions of moss and tree bark. They feed on algae, lichens and organic matter. It took its name from their remarkable jumping ability, where they repel with the help of their caudal appendages ( Terminalfilum and Cerci ) and the legs from the ground.
System
The animals represent the most primitive group of real insects ( according to other literature and the Ectognatha ) dar. Unlike all the groups they possess a one-piece Mandibelgelenk, while at the higher taxa a second joint has trained and thus forms a dikondyle mandible. Accordingly, the rockhopper as Archaeognatha ( " Altkiefertiere " ) and the following groups are called Dicondylia. Their closest relatives outside the flying insects ( pterygota ) are probably the little fish in the broader sense ( Zygentoma ).
Among the fossil evidence that occurring in eozänem Baltic amber type Machilis diastatica is remarkable because these morphologically practically does not differ from the recent Machilis polypoda. Thus there is at least this way, but probably also other representatives of Machilidae family since about 50 million years virtually unchanged.