Introduction

The keys presented in this paper are intended to assist in the identification of Collembolan species down to the level of the genera. All generic names published to the end of the year 1949 are included.

Present systematic work on the Collembola is still based largely on Börner's "Das System der Collembolen," published in 1906, and his "Die Familien der Collembolen" of 1913. No attempt has been made in recent years to correlate the modern work of Bonet, Stach, and others into an up-to-date system of classification embodying the views of present-day workers in this field. The need for such a system has frequently impressed me and, over the last few years, I have attempted to revise the classification of these insects, which I now offer in the form of a system of keys. In these I have endeavoured to embody all the latest views on Collembolan systematics. I do not, however, claim that the result is perfect, but I do hope that it offers a new standard upon which future work in this field may be based.

A key, at its best, cannot contain, nor attempt to contain, all the features pertaining to each particular genus, but includes only those salient features most useful in identification. For this reason these keys, when final identification is at all in doubt, should always be used in conjunction with the original literature. To assist in this regard, I have included a bibliography which is cross-indexed to the keys by a system of numbers, and which should simplify the always difficult process of referring to the published works of past authors.

The bibliography was compiled, in the first place, from the Zoological Record and from Biological Abstracts, assisted by reference to Neave's Nomenclature Zoologicus, the Catalogue of the Library of the British Museum of Natural History, and bibliographies published by other authors. The great majority of the entries have been checked by actual reference to the papers themselves—either by consulting the works available in New Zealand libraries or by means of microfilm copies obtained from Australia, the United States of America, and England. In so far as is possible by searching, checking, and cross-checking, the bibliography is a complete list of all the published works and papers dealing in any way with the Collembola up to and including the year 1949.

For any inaccuracies or omissions that may have crept in, I can only apologise in advance, and ask that they be drawn to my notice by whomsoever may come across them.