Tiny Caterpillar?

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Bryan
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:31 pm

Tiny Caterpillar?

#1 Post by Bryan » Tue May 07, 2019 2:57 am

I found a few of these critters in my back yard, it kind of looks like a tiny caterpillar. It's about 2mm long, anyone have any idea what it is? This is my first attempt at focus stacking, I used a free program called Picolay that someone recommended on this forum. It's 51 photos in the stack. Shot with an Olympus Pen-F on my Leitz SM microscope. 3.5X objective, 4X eyepiece. The lighting wasn't great, I illuminated it with a small led light from above.
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viktor j nilsson
Posts: 760
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2018 10:12 pm
Location: Lund, Sweden

Re: Tiny Caterpillar?

#2 Post by viktor j nilsson » Tue May 07, 2019 9:46 am

It's Polyxenus sp.

Bryan
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:31 pm

Re: Tiny Caterpillar?

#3 Post by Bryan » Tue May 07, 2019 3:24 pm

viktor j nilsson wrote:It's Polyxenus sp.
Thanks Viktor! When I first saw it I was thinking Millipede but after seeing the tufts I thought it may be a caterpillar. I should have stuck with my first impression. Interesting how the tufts are a defense against ants. I have seen these in my yard in the past, I just never took a close look at them until now. Probably Polyxenus lagurus, they are common in North America and Europe.

http://www.bmig.org.uk/species/polyxenus-lagurus

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