Dipluran
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Diplurans (Order Diplura) are a small, primitive type of hexapod, which were until recently thought to be insects. The were also formerly in the order Thysanura, or bristletails. They differ from true bristletails in the number of appendages at the tip of their abdomen, and their morphological origin. Diplurans have two such long appendages in the form of modified cerci. As such, diplurans are sometimes called two-pronged bristletails. True bristletails have three appendages.
Identification
Their bodies are flat and spindle-shaped with overlapping scales. They have long, multi-segmented antennae, and some abdominal segments have styli (finger-like protrusions.)
Life Cycle
Bristletails undergo simple metamorphosis. Nymphs of this order are generally very similar to the adult.
Habitat
Taxonomy
Number of species
There are 50 species found in North America, and 700 worldwide.
Suborders
There are two suborders in this order, principally separated by the segmentation of tarsi and characteristics of the abdomen.
Bibliography
Borrer, DJ and RE White. A Field Guide to Insects: America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1970. ISBN 0-395-91170-2
Milne, L and M Milne. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.: 1995. ISBN 0-394-50763-0
Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed June 4 2008.