Aquatic Springtails
We have a wildlife pond in our Staffordshire garden. As the seasons progress, numbers of aquatic springtails in the pond vary considerably. At the moment there are many hundreds (or thousands) clustered around the edge on the slate paving and jumping around in the water. Mainly, there are immature early instars.
Here there is a mature female Sminthurides aquaticus on the left and a much smaller male on the right. The males have "angled" antennae with modified bristles. The shape enables males and females to lock their antennae during courtship The smaller male is then often lifted into the air. note that the female is a feeding instar. The green colour on the dorsal surface of the abdomen is due to gut contents.
Canon 1D Mk IV + MP-E Macro (at x5) + full set on Kenko extension tubes + YN24EX twinlite flash. Cropped a bit.
Aquatic Springtails
We have a wildlife pond in our Staffordshire garden. As the seasons progress, numbers of aquatic springtails in the pond vary considerably. At the moment there are many hundreds (or thousands) clustered around the edge on the slate paving and jumping around in the water. Mainly, there are immature early instars.
Here there is a mature female Sminthurides aquaticus on the left and a much smaller male on the right. The males have "angled" antennae with modified bristles. The shape enables males and females to lock their antennae during courtship The smaller male is then often lifted into the air. note that the female is a feeding instar. The green colour on the dorsal surface of the abdomen is due to gut contents.
Canon 1D Mk IV + MP-E Macro (at x5) + full set on Kenko extension tubes + YN24EX twinlite flash. Cropped a bit.