Proturan, << proh TYOOR uhn, >> is any of a group of tiny six-legged animals that lack eyes, antennae, and wings. Proturans use their two front legs as feelers to guide them around their habitats. These legs, which the animals hold out in front of them, have hairlike structures and other sensitive parts. Proturans walk with their two middle legs and two hind legs.
Most proturans live in moist environments, including soil, moss, fallen leaves, or decaying wood. They seem to feed mostly on fungi and rotting plant and animal material.
A proturan’s slender, pale body usually measures less than 1/12 inch (2 millimeters) long. The small, conical head features a pair of peglike sense organs called pseudoculi. Slender, pointed mouthparts occur within a pocket on the underside of the head. Proturans use their mouthparts to pierce their food and suck up nourishing liquid. Short appendages called styli on the first three segments of the abdomen contain tiny pouches that probably help regulate the amount of water in the body. Some proturans can defend themselves by releasing a sticky substance from the back of the abdomen.
Male proturans produce spermatophores—that is, small packets of sperm—that females collect and use to fertilize eggs. Young proturans develop by a process called anamorphosis. In this process, the animal grows by adding several new segments to its abdomen.
