The first description of the genus can be attributed to O.F. Müller in 1785. Müller first cited the species as Daphne mucronata, but the genus name was later changed to Scapholeberis. Below is the original drawing of Scapholeberis Mucronata.
I just managed to get this subject into the camera field of view at 10X in DIC. This is a stack of 48 images.
Scapholeberis mucronata is typically ranging from 0.5 to 1.2 mm for females and 0.4 to 0.7 mm for males. Its large head has a prominent compound eye and a developed head spine may also be present. Next image show a close-up of the head at 40X clearly showing it's armored horn. It is a stack of 30 images.
The tail section has two sharp horns/spikes as shown here (Stack of 11 images):
Towards the end of the growing season the females produce tough "resting eggs" or "winter eggs". The resting eggs are protected by a hardened coat called the ephippium, and are cast off at the female's next moult. The ephippia can withstand periods of extreme cold, and drought. In the first images, it was hard to see the texture of the egg, but with a slight addition of EPI-illumination, the texture appear. Single image (!), 40X. (It must have a very flat surface)
