Springtail Survey
One of several large individuals from the garden today. Frans is speculating that there may be two distinct groups; Group 1 where abd.6 in adults is pale, and Group 2 where abd.6 in adults is dark. This is a mature Group 1 individual. In the lateral shot (+ insert) I cannot decide whether I'm seeing a sub-anal appendage (female) or a raised genital papilla (male). I'm yet to see a really "convincing" Group 1 male. What do you think Frans? Also, there seems to be some dark blue pigmentation on the anterior area of the abdomen.
[Part of a garden survey of the "novel" springtail Katiannidae Genus nov.1 sp. nov. that I'm doing for FransJanssens@www.collembola.org to establish the size and differences between the various instars.
Canon MP-E65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + diffused MT24-EX Twinlite flash. Cropped.]
Springtail Survey
One of several large individuals from the garden today. Frans is speculating that there may be two distinct groups; Group 1 where abd.6 in adults is pale, and Group 2 where abd.6 in adults is dark. This is a mature Group 1 individual. In the lateral shot (+ insert) I cannot decide whether I'm seeing a sub-anal appendage (female) or a raised genital papilla (male). I'm yet to see a really "convincing" Group 1 male. What do you think Frans? Also, there seems to be some dark blue pigmentation on the anterior area of the abdomen.
[Part of a garden survey of the "novel" springtail Katiannidae Genus nov.1 sp. nov. that I'm doing for FransJanssens@www.collembola.org to establish the size and differences between the various instars.
Canon MP-E65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + diffused MT24-EX Twinlite flash. Cropped.]