Serial homology of the mandible and maxilla in the jumping bristletail Pedetontus unimaculatus Machida, based on external embryology (Hexapoda: Archaeognatha, Machilidae).

The development of the mandible and maxilla is examined with the scanning electron microscope in the Archaeognatha. Serial homology is discussed to elucidate the general construction of the hexapod mandible. The part comparable to the maxillary palp does not develop in the mandible. Thus, the mandible is coxopodal in origin, and not telognathic but coxognathic. The mandible proper is subdivided into two in late embryonic development, and the smaller proximal and larger distal parts are homologized with the maxillary cardo and stipes, respectively, being subcoxal and coxal in nature. The partition into the "mandibular cardo" in which the mandibular monocondyle is formed and the "mandibular stipes" is recognized as a cuticular ridge or the "mandibular basal ridge" in the postembryonic stages including the imaginal. The molar and incisor are comparable in position and homologized with the maxillary lacinia and galea, respectively. The lacinia and galea could be morphologically interpreted as being the endites of the maxillary coxae I and II, respectively, and the molar and incisor might represent the mandibular coxae I and II as their constituents or endites. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.