Sminthurinus Springtail
I was sitting by a Digger Wasp burrow in my Staffordshire garden waiting for one to return with a fly. I idly picked up a beech leaf from the lawn and checked underneath with my hand lens. This Sminthurinus globular springtail was there.
Ever since I've been photographing globular springtails I've been looking for one of the species with these pale abdominal spots. Of course, I've got the wrong lens arrangement on my camera, the wrong settings and nowhere suitable close at hand to rest the leaf. Anyway, I just put the leaf back on the lawn and tried a few shots.
This one's not too bad (although heavily cropped). I'm not sure if this is Sminthurinus trinotatus or Sminthurinus bimaculatus. It's a little over 0.5mm in length. Whatever, I've finally found one of these "white spot" species. I looked under virtually all the other leaves on the lawn but couldn't find another one!
Sminthurinus Springtail
I was sitting by a Digger Wasp burrow in my Staffordshire garden waiting for one to return with a fly. I idly picked up a beech leaf from the lawn and checked underneath with my hand lens. This Sminthurinus globular springtail was there.
Ever since I've been photographing globular springtails I've been looking for one of the species with these pale abdominal spots. Of course, I've got the wrong lens arrangement on my camera, the wrong settings and nowhere suitable close at hand to rest the leaf. Anyway, I just put the leaf back on the lawn and tried a few shots.
This one's not too bad (although heavily cropped). I'm not sure if this is Sminthurinus trinotatus or Sminthurinus bimaculatus. It's a little over 0.5mm in length. Whatever, I've finally found one of these "white spot" species. I looked under virtually all the other leaves on the lawn but couldn't find another one!