Mountain Stone Bristletail vs Forest Bristletail

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Mountain Stone Bristletail Forest Bristletail
Scientific Name Machilis germanica Machilis hrabei
Order Archaeognatha Archaeognatha
Family Machilidae Machilidae
Size 8-12 mm 8-12 mm
Habitat Mountains Forests
Diet Detritivores Detritivores
Regions Central Europe Central Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Mountain Stone Bristletail

A scaled, humped bristletail found on rock faces and stone walls in European mountains. It has large touching compound eyes, long antennae, and three caudal filaments.

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Did You Know?

Bristletails have an indirect mating system where males deposit sperm droplets on silk threads for females to pick up.

Forest Bristletail

A central European bristletail inhabiting forest leaf litter and mossy rocks. It is one of many Machilis species found in Europe.

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Did You Know?

The genus Machilis was one of the first bristletail genera ever described.