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Jumping Bristle Tail

Archaeognatha

Photo by HemaShah
Published on Project Noah
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37.978, -122.031

Field Notes

Description:

initially I thought ti was a silverfish. But it had a prominent tail and was not as soft bodied.

Habitat:

Mt Diablo

Species ID Suggestions

Bristletail

Archaeognatha

Comments (4)

The Archaeognatha are an order of wingless insects, also known as jumping bristletails. They are among the least evolutionarily changed insects, appearing in the Devonian period along with the arachnids. They are known from both body and trace fossils (the latter including body imprints and trackways) throughout the remainder of the Paleozoic Era. The name Archaeognatha is derived from Greek, archaeos meaning "ancient" and gnatha meaning "jaw". This refers to the articulation of the mandibles, which has a single condyle, where all higher insects have two. An alternate name, Microcoryphia, comes from the Greek micro, meaning "small", and coryphia, meaning head. The order Archaeognatha has previously been combined with the order Thysanura; both orders possess three-pronged tails comprising two cerci and an epiproct. The approximately 350 species in the two families are distributed worldwide. No species is currently at conservation risk, though the order is one of the most poorly studied among insects, so it may simply be that no one has yet recognized that any species are at risk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeognatha
Awesome find Jemma. You are definitely an amazing observer of the wonders of nature. Congratulations!
this is the first and only spotting so far of this organism!! http://www.projectnoah.org/organisms?search=jumping+bristle+tail
this was jumping around like a jumping spider. One of the most primitive form of insects like Tarantulas. Thanks so much Stho!! You are a genius!
Photographed
PublishedOctober 12, 2013

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