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> >> were Common Wood Nymphs=2C though these were much l Hi Angus: West, turn left as you face the sea at Hall's Harbour. (I learned only yesterday that 'Captain Hall' supposedly was a real pirate who got grounded there for a winter because his ship had become damaged). Walk off the west end of the lobster shack's car park (fish & chips recommended, coffee not), ignore the first rather dry 1/3 of the arc of cliffs ahead -- very low cliffs seem to encourage predator spiders. Bristletails usually occupy the first 8 feet above the cliff base, around rainwater seepage zones. Far fewer after the first point, but the hanging valley waterfall about 1 km away, round the second point, is a nice photo-op though a rugged walk. Like silverfish, bristletails seem not to have a fixed number of instars and moult often. Freshly moulted individuals have a mixture of black, green, and brown body scales, like those on butterfly wings. These render them very well camouflaged against the variable rock, until they move. If you go there, try to take a few good close-ups -- my camera and photo skills are not too hot. It is a harsh environment with few species at the best of times, but there seem to be no significant predators of bristletails there, which may be their ace survival card, considering them to be the most primitive extant insect group with no skills except a pretty good back-flip. Never been East at HH and don't know the cliff structure there, but bristletails were abundant at Harbourville years ago and are probably distributed all along the volcanic rock coast where the cliffs are reasonably high. Apart from the presence of small algae on which to feed, they can easily find deep cracks in which to survive the winter in the 'rotten' volcanic rock, and this also supplies the seepage water. Andrew Hebda reported them also from Isle Haute, and they are present in places on the coastline opposite, at the Old Wife (5 Is park), Wasson Bluff, Partridge Island, and Cap d'Or. Harbourville is more risky from the POV of getting completely cut off. You probably know to check tide times at http://www.waterlevels.gc.ca/eng Pick Baxter Harbour as nearest to HH, though high/low tide times don't vary by many minutes difference all along that coast. All the best -- let me know if you go and take any photos. Steve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quoting Angus MacLean <cold_mac@hotmail.com>: > Hi Steve: > > Yes, that is the feature that separates the two. I like to think of > it as an arrow leading from the black thorax patch towards the > abdomen. The same arrow identifies Bombus impatiens by the way, > along with the number of tergites covered by pile but the latter can > be ambiguous. > > Where are the bristletails found at HH? Both East or West? > > Cheers, Angus
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