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Photo#462080
Fungus infested planthopper with tiny primative hexapod - Salina banksi

Fungus infested planthopper with tiny primative hexapod - Salina banksi
Slidell, Pearl River WMA, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, USA
September 28, 2010
Here's a better view of the mystery insect that was on the fungus infested planthopper.

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Salina banksi
Collembola are 'primitive' in the sense that they probably were the very first terrestrial hexapod crustaceans about 400 mya.
Otherwise Collembola are 'perfect' given they did not evolve any further since that time ;-)
Therefore, Collembola are sometimes called 'living fossils'.

 
Thanks so much
The "primative" designation was from my recollections of insect taxonomy class, where I first learned that there are groups of wingless hexapods that are not, sensu strictu, insects. Evolutionarily speaking, as you point out, these primitives simply made their advancements early on.

They seem so featureless that I get intimidated, expecting that they (collembola, protura, etc.) will be impossible to ID. I know that's silly, but still, I'm grateful for your help.

 
You might want to try our key...

I had one
that was similar (but with darker markings) but I never got an ID/confirmation

hexapod
I can't wait to see the ID of the primitive hexapod. Great find!

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