Plutoniumidae

Diagnosis. Eyes absent, light / depigmented spots at their place (Fig. 34). Labrum with a single median tooth. Slender pretarsus of maxillae 2 (Fig. 35) not pectinate, consisting of two well-distinguishable parts (darker basal and a semi-transparent apical ones), curved and pointed apically. Pretarsus (at least in Theatops) is accompanied by welldeveloped ventral projection (Fig. 35) which is of the same shape as pretarsus but visibly thinner and shorter (sometimes nearly as long as it; see below); it is never accompanied by accessory spine (s). Anterior margin of forcipular coxosternite with well-developed tooth-plates (Fig. 36), forcipular trochantero-prefemur with simple processes of various length. Sternites with a single longitudinal median suture, developed to varying degrees (hardly visible in some Theatops). 21 LBS; spiracles (figs 1 AB in Vahtera et al. 2012 b) on LBS 2 – 20 or on macrosegments only (if so LBS 7 with or without spiracles). Ultimate LBS considerably elongated with ultimate tergite nearly twice as long the penultimate one. Coxopleuron virtually without process (Fig. 37), sometimes with a single spine at its place. Tarsus of legs 1 – 19 monopartite; legs with two tibial spurs and one tarsal spur. Ultimate legs forcipulate (Figs 33, 37), swollen, strongly sclerotized, truly “ pincer-shaped ” (sensu Schileyko 2009) with all articles much shortened and enlarged, excluding falcate pretarsus which is considerably elongated being at least as long as corresponding tarsus 2 (or much longer; see below). Dorsal and medial surface of both prefemur and femur flat, these articles with or without (Fig. 37) ventral spines. Edgecombe & Bonato (2011: 395) also wrote: “ Poison calyx extending into the forcipular coxosternite … Gizzard with stiff anteriorly / directed projections; projections evenly curved, covered by multifurcating scales that spirally encircle the projection, branching into slender, needle-like spines ”. Number of subtaxa. 2 genera.

Remarks. Treated as a family in Edgecombe & Bonato (2011: 395), Edgecombe et al. (2012: 770), Vahtera et al. (2012 a: 9, 2012 b: 229, 2013: 580), Bonato et al. (2017: 2).

Sexual dimorphism. Unknown.

Range. Southern Europe (Southern Iberian Peninsula, Southern Italian Peninsula, Balkan Peninsula, Sardinia, Sicily); South-West, East and South-East of USA, Northern Mexico; Central China (Sichuan, Hunan, Gansu).

Synonyms. Theatopidae Verhoeff, 1906; Theatopinae Verhoeff, 1906; Theatopsidae Verhoeff, 1907.