Dicyrtomina minuta is a very common species found throughout Britain and Ireland. It is yellow in colour with a small prominent patch of blue pigment at the posterior end of the abdomen. Members of the Dicyrtomidae are characterised by having a very short fourth antennal segment. In species of Dicyrtomina, the claw on the foot is wrapped in an outer membrane and the empodium is wide and bears a short filament that reaches just beyond the tip of the claw (Fig. 1). The inner and outer edges of the mucro are serrated (Fig. 2).
     According to Bretfeld (1999), it is possible that Dicyrtomina minuta Dicyrtomina ornata and Dicyrtomina saundersi are colour varieties of the same species which, according to rules of priority, should be known as Dicyrtomina minuta. However, molecular studies support separate species status so I have decided to retain the three names for the present.

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Fig. 1 (above): Foot of the third leg of Dicyrtomina minuta collected from Cheltenham in February 1944 by J.M. Williams.

Fig. 2 (above): Mucro and dens of the same specimen of Dicyrtomina minuta shown in Fig. 1.