A STANDARDIZED DESCRIPTION OF EUROPEAN SMINTHURIDAE (COLLEMBOLA, SYMPHYPLEONA) .3. DESCRIPTION OF 7 SPECIES OF SMINTHURUS, INCLUDING 4 NEW TO SCIENCE

The following three species are redescribed: Sminthurus viridis (Linna eus, 1758), Sminthurus nigromaculatus Tullberg, 1871, and Sminthurus m ultipunctatus Schaffer, 1896. Four new species are described from Fran ce and Spain: Sminthurus bourgeoisi n. sp., Sminthurus bozoulensis n. sp., Sminthurus leucomelanus n. sp., and Sminthurus hispanicus n. sp. The importance of the ontogeny of chaetotaxy is stressed. Indeed, not all species acquire the secondary chaetotaxy in the same instar, and f or these characters the most informative instar is not the adult but t he third juvenile instar. The study of such characters involves the cl ustering of similar characters. A short discussion is given about this issue (selection of characters and clustering criteria).