EPIPSOCETAE, Pearman, 1936

Yoshizawa, Kazunori, 2002, Phylogeny and higher classification of suborder Psocomorpha (Insecta: Psocodea: ‘ Psocoptera’), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136 (3), pp. 371-400 : 397-398

INFRAORDER EPIPSOCETAE

Medium to large in size, about 3–7 mm in length. Coloration variable. Collected from dead foliage, leaf litter, or bark and stone surfaces.

Head with rounded vertex; gena elongate; postclypeus less bulged; epistomal suture often reduced, always without well-developed internal ridge; anteclypeus broadly sclerotized; anterior tentorial pit separate from ventral margin of cranium; male eyes much larger than female’s; ocelli complete or absent dorsally, clustered on small tubercle; labrum with pair of longitudinal sclerotized lines; mandible elongate, its outer margin strongly angled and posterolateral margin deeply hollowed; maxilla with ball-shaped galea; labial palpus somewhat triangular. Prothorax less bulged dorsally. Pterothorax well bulged dorsally; mesoscutellum pentagonal medially; mesothorax with narrow precoxal bridge and trochantin; metaepisternum with broad membranous region. Forewing setose, veins often with more than 1 row of setae; posteroproximal corner smoothly rounded; Rs and M usually fused by crossvein; A 2 usually present but absent in Epipsocidae . Hindwing with smoothly rounded posteroproximal corner; veins setose, often with more than 1 row of setae in distal half; margins wholly setose except anterior margin proximal to marginal end of R 1; Rs and M + Cu fused for long distance basally; Rs and M fused. Tarsi 2- or 3-segmented; claws with preapical tooth; pulvillus narrow. Abdomen without eversible vesicles ventrally. Male genitalia: phallosome variable; phallobase usually open apically. Female genitalia: subgenital plate usually simple. Gonapophyses: ventral valve present or absent; dorsal valve narrowed to pointed apex; external valve narrowed; dorsal and external valve fused with each other.

Included families: Cladiopsocidae , Ptiloneuridae , Dolabellapsocidae , Epipsocidae .