(No common name)

FAMILY

Meinertellidae

TAXONOMY

Neomachilellus scandens Wygodzinsky, 1978, vicinity of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Length of body is 0.47 in (12 mm), tail is 0.51 in (13 mm), and antennae are 0.67 in (17 mm). Body pigment yellowish white, mostly obscured by a thick covering of darker scales. Diagnostic features of the species include large spots on the eyes and a single dark ring on the first antennal segment.

DISTRIBUTION

A circle with a radius of 62 mi (100 km), centered on Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.

HABITAT

Inhabits both primary and secondary growth dryland and inundation forests of the central Amazon. Believed to have originated in dryland areas, colonizing inundation forests via waterways in the remarkably water-resistant egg stage.

BEHAVIOR

Almost entirely arboreal in dryland forests. In inundation forests, individuals inhabit the forest floor during the dry season and migrate to the canopy at the onset of rains. Has a very well-developed vertical jumping ability, an adaptation to life in trees.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Grazes in leaf litter, consuming fungi, algae, and decaying leaves.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Copulates in the "pick-a-back" posture. The male attaches a sperm packet to the ground. He then pushes his head and thorax below the female and maneuvers her over the sperm packet, whereupon she takes it up with her ovipositor. Females deposit eggs in leaf litter. The generations are continual in dryland forests, but an annual life cycle has developed in inundation forests. Eggs remain submerged for prolonged periods, surviving five to six months of inundation in the wet season. A dry forest floor induces hatching, and the larvae develop rapidly, requiring only three months to reach maturity.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.