Orchesella litoralis has been regarded as a junior synonym of Orchesella villosa by recent authors including Kloet & Hincks. However, in his description of Orchesella litoralis (Fig. 1), Brown (1925) describes collecting specimens from 'among shingle between the tide marks, Runswick Bay (Yorkshire)' - the red dot on the map. His illustrations do bear a strong resemblance to Orchesella villosa but in view of the habitat, I think it is worth highlighting the possibility that an obligate littoral species of Orchesella may occur in Britain. Specimens of 'Orchesella villosa' collected from between high and low tide levels would be interesting to compare with Orchesella villosa from inland habitats.

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Fig. 1 (above): Holotype of Orchesella litoralis collected from Runswick Bay, Yorkshire in June 1905 by J.M. Brown. Note that all segments of the antennae are pale (in Orchesella villosa, segments 2, 3 and 4 are normally heavily pigmented).