Orchesella alticola is most frequently found on the summits and upper slopes of mountains. I have collected this species on the tops of several fells in the Lake District in Cumbria up to 800 metres in altitude (Figs. 1, 2, 3). There are also records from a few lowland sites, especially in Ireland. The longest specimen I have seen was 3.6 mm in length. All six segments of the antennae are pale in the specimens I have seen (Fig. 4). The mucro has two teeth and a small basal spine (Fig. 5). The empodium is about two thirds the length of the claw (Fig. 6).
Fig. 1 (above), Fig. 2 (left) and Fig. 3 (below): Specimens of Orchesella alticola collected from Grisedale Pike in Cumbria July 2004.
Fig. 4 (above): Head of Orchesella alticola collected from Ballyvaghan, Clare, Ireland in July 1960 by Peter Lawrence. Note that all segments of the antennae are pale.
Fig. 6 (above): Foot of the second leg of the same specimen of Orchesella alticola shown in Fig. 5. The tip of the spatulate tenant seta (sts) has broken off.
Fig. 5 (above): Mucro of Orchesella alticola collected from Muckanaght, Galway, Ireland in July 1954 by D.H. Murphy.
