In the NHML collection, there are two specimens labelled 'Protaphorura macfadyeni' collected by A. Pearce in May 1967 from an intertidal site at Bridgewater in Somerset. They have eight or more pseudocelli (PSO) on abd1 to abd3 and ten PSO on abd4. Also, some of Bagnall's specimens of Protaphorura 'daviesi' from the seashore at Cullercoats have similarly large numbers of PSO (Figs. 1 and 2) and it seems reasonable to consider 'macfadyeni' as a species separate from Protaphorura armata and Protaphorura aurantiaca in view of the littoral habitat. Bagnall's original description of 'daviesi' was weak and was based on a single 'poor' specimen. The holotype is too damaged to see the PSO clearly, although in his description, Bagnall stated that th3 had 2+2 PSO, thus making 'daviesi' a junior synonym of Protaphorura aurantiaca rather than armata. Even though Bagnall collected this species before Gisin, rules of nomenclature require that we use the name macfadyeni for this species rather than daviesi.
     The 'typical' PSO formula of Protaphorura macfadyeni is 43/023/44453 in contrast to Protaphorura armata (33/023/33343) and Protaphorura aurantiaca (33/022/33343).

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Fig. 1 (right): Dorsal side of the head of Protaphorura macfadyeni collected from the seashore at Cullercoats in February 1939 by Bagnall (labelled daviesi on the slide). There are four pseudocelli (PSO) behind the base of each antenna (ant) and three PSO on each side on the hind margin of the head. The first thoracic segment (th1) does not bear any dorsal PSO.

Fig. 2 (left): Dorsal side of the second (abd2) and third (abd3) abdominal segments of the same specimen of Protaphorura macfadyeni shown in Fig. 1. There are four pseudocelli (PSO) on either side of the midline (only left side labelled ).