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There is at least one species of uniformly-coloured Isotomurus that occurs in Britain and Ireland. However, there is some confusion as to its (their?) exact identity. Recent work by Matty Berg in The Netherlands and Arne Fjellberg in Norway has gone some way towards clarifying the situation but the matter is by no means resolved. The most likely candidates for these uniformly-coloured specimens with abdominal trichobothria are Isotomurus fucicolus and Isotomurus prasinus (see separate map for comments on the latter).
There are a few scattered records in the literature for Isotomurus palustris var. fucicola but there are no specimens in the NHML slide collection.
According to Arne Fjellberg, Isotomurus fucicolus is uniform brownish in colour and is found in cultivated fields (farmland with manure). Reproductive males of Isotomurus fucicolus lack the dorsal lateral serrated spine setae on abd4 and abd5 that are found in Isotomurus prasinus. There are also other minor morphological differences but a detailed study of uniformly-coloured Isotomurus in Britain and Ireland is needed before it is known whether these characters will be of any use in identifying the species.
There is an excellent web site on European Isotomurus by Antonio Carapelli and colleagues at the University of Siena [http://www.unisi.it/ricerca/dip/collemboli/isotopage/intro.htm]from which the picture of Isotomurus fucicolus shown in Fig. 1 is taken.
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