A wingless insect (Machilis maritima) having the abdomen terminated by bristly appendages which assist it in leaping.
1706. Phillips, Bristle-tails, a sort of Flies, some of which have one Bristle, others two … in their Tail.
1865. Gosse, Land & Sea (1874), 97. I found several colonies of that curious insect the seaside bristletail.
