Heathland Bristletail - a photo on Flickriver

Holt Heath, East Dorset
ARCHAEOGNATHA > Machilidae (Bristletails)
Heathland Bristletail [Dilta littoralis]
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One of the pleasures of crawling around soaking wet ground and lifting stones or deadwood is that you never know what you’re going to find.

I’d photographed tiny two-pronged bristletails before, but this was my first encounter with their larger insect ‘cousins’ - although sharing the same common name, they are actually very different. In fact, the two-pronged variety of the order Diplura are no longer classed as insects. The closest relative of the individual featured here is the silverfish. Both species being in the basal, primitive wingless insects, subclass Apterygota.

I found a small colony a couple of weeks ago on my local heath. It was a real surprise as I know the area very well and had no idea they were there. They are active little creatures that have the ability to jump, which they do rather well. The abdomen terminates in a long filament, flanked either side by a pair of cerci, giving them a three-tailed appearance.

It’s another species that I will eventually be featuring on my new macro photography website ’Small World Discoveries’.

(see previous post for more information)

Taken in: UK / England / East Dorset District / Three Legged Cross (show map)

Taken on: December 23, 2023

Tags:

Dorset

Dilta littoralis

Machilidae

Invertebrates

ARCHAEOGNATHA

ARTHROPODA

Arthropods

Britletails

Heathland Bristletail

INSECTA

Insects

Machilids

Mannington « less

Groups appears in: • Dorset(England) wildlife

Camera: OM Digital Solutions OM-1, f/11.0, 1/160 sec, 126mm (=252mm), ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	OM Digital Solutions OM-1
Lens:	OM 90mm F3.5 + MC-14
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/160)
Focal Length:	126mm (35mm equivalent: 252mm)
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	On, Fired
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Other
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.1 (Macintosh)
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