Proturans are hexapods that are very rarely seen or looked for, but they are part of the insect food web.
The microscopic Proturans are 6-legged creatures that live in soil. They are so small that they are shorter than this typed-out exclamation mark!
Hundreds of them can live in as little as one cup of good earth sampled from woods, healthy crop fields, and in backyards. They are virtually blind and sense their surroundings by touch and taste. Proturans scrape off bits of fungi and plant roots into their small mouths. Some species breathe through their exoskeletons, others have a trachea (windpipe). Larvae are even smaller than adults and grow a few segments at a time as they mature. As you can imagine, photos of them are hard to come by. They require intense magnification (via microscope) in order to see any detail in their physiology.
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Subphylum Hexapoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Protura
Family:Acerentomidae
Genus:Acerentomon
Species:sp.
Identifying Information
Scientific Name: Acerentomon sp.
Category:
Proturan
Size (Adult; Length): 1mm to 2mm (0.04in to 0.08in)
Note: An insect's reach is not limited by lines drawn on a map and therefore species may appear in areas, regions and/or states beyond those listed above as they are driven by environmental factors (such as climate change), available food supplies and mating patterns. Grayed-out selections indicate that the subject in question has not been reported in that particular territory. U.S. states and Canadian provinces / territories are clickable to their respective bug listings.
Colors: yellow, brown, red
