Machilidae sp.
JUMPING BRISTLETAIL FAMILY (Machilidae)

Description
The Jumping Bristletail is approximately .75 inch long. It is brown, scaly, elongate and wingless. It has large eyes, long antennae and 3 tails. It is unusual among insects for having well developed appendages on each abdominal segment. Formerly it was in the same order with Silverfish (Thysanura). It is now in the order Microcoryphia. The Jumping Bristletails are larger and more cylindrical than Silverfish. This bristletail was identified by a volunteer expert at the BugGuide website.

Occurrence
The frequency of occurrence is not known for Fontenelle Forest and Neale Woods. A single individual was found on the plaza of the Nature Center at Fontenelle Forest in mid-October. They would normally be found under rocks or fallen logs on the forest floor.

Comments
Males are fairly rare and some populations are parthogenetic consisting of only females. When males are present mating is indirect. The male makes a silken thread with his mouth to guide the female onto a sperm droplet. (Stephen A. Marshall, “Insects Their Natural History and Diversity”).

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