Mountain Stone Bristletail vs Southern Rock Bristletail

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Mountain Stone Bristletail Southern Rock Bristletail
Scientific Name Machilis germanica Lepismachilis y-signata
Order Archaeognatha Archaeognatha
Family Machilidae Machilidae
Size 8-12 mm 8-11 mm
Habitat Mountains Underground
Diet Detritivores Detritivores
Regions Central Europe Mediterranean 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.

Southern Rock Bristletail

A Mediterranean bristletail identified by a Y-shaped marking on its thorax. It lives under stones and in rock crevices.

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Did You Know?

The Y-shaped thoracic marking gives this species its distinctive name.