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A trip to Swell Wood this morning to test out my new flash and diffuser on some of the resident critters.
December 1, 2017
A bunch of springtails showed up on our deck this morning.
Brewster, Massachusetts
Cape Cod - USA
Photo by brucetopher
© Bruce Christopher 2017
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...always learning - critiques welcome.
Tools: Canon 7D & iPhone 6s.
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A grain of sugar for size comparison ,it also helped to slow him down , he kinda liked it.
First time iv'e wrote on a sugar crystal.
Not a perfect photo but my first of a springtail. And, the first with my new mt-24ex flash. Too cold for insects but these guys were quite active living in old garden mulch. Body about 3-4mm.
One from today. I've been seeing this form in the garden for a few days but haven't managed decent shots before. This one paused sufficiently for me to get several shots. I've blended elements from each shot to produce this composite.
This (to me) is a "classic" Group 1 mature (~1.25mm) form. It has a dark pigmentation pattern on the abdomen with abd.6 non-pigmented. The abdomen also has little orange/red pigmentation. The head however, does have orange pigmentation. Occasionally I see very darkly pigmented forms (see yesterday's image for example) that do not have any orange pigmentation of the head (except perhaps for a small dot). Group 1 and Group 2 forms usually do though.
[Part of a garden survey of the "novel" springtail Katiannidae Genus nov.1 sp. nov. that I'm doing with FransJanssens@www.collembola.org initially, to establish the size and differences between sexes and the various instars. As a result of the initial findings, Frans is suggesting that there are two distinct groups:
Group 1 - where abd.6 in adults is pale and there is little red pigmentation along the dorsal surface of the abdomen, and
Group 2 - where abd.6 in adults is dark and there is (sometimes) significant red pigmentation along the dorsal surface of the abdomen..
Canon MP-E65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + diffused YN24EX flash. Cropped.]
In the recent snowy weather I thought I'd see how the Globular Springtails were faring and turned over a few rocks in my garden. To my surprise there were still lots of springtails attached to the underside of the rocks, many partially set into the ice. As the light reached them they slowly started to move and these two shots are of a couple of individuals wandering around the ice.
My first attempt at macro photography. This is a tiny (2mm) Collembola, a hard working shredder in the recycling team in compost piles and soil.
Macro photography is a fascinating subject and gives me a wonderful view on the macrofauna of the soil.
For any macrophotographers out there - this is an unstacked image. I was planning to stack but this little guy would not keep still long enough!
Another from my garden survey today. At ~1.3 mm, this is an adult instar (I seem to remember seeing a few at 1.4 mm last season, but nothing any longer). This has some orange/red pigmentation along the dorsal surface of the abdomen. It was thought at one time, that these "red-backs" were male. Results from last season's survey showed that females have this pigmentation pattern too.
[Part of a garden survey of the "novel" springtail Katiannidae Genus nov.1 sp. nov. that I'm doing with FransJanssens@www.collembola.org initially, to establish the size and differences between the various instars.]
Canon 5D Mk III + MP-E lens (at 5x magnification) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + YN24EX flash. Two images blended in PSE. Cropped.
Britain's biggest springtail, this species can reach 6mm long (excluding antennae). This one was 5mm or so.
Eardington Nature Resreve.
One from my trip out with Ed yesterday. As I'm new to springtail photography help with IDs would be appreciated.
Thanks for faves and comments.
A rather damp springtail X4. Focus stacked using zerene. See www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/51680799531/ for a 3D version
Globular springtail on compost bin lid. Focus stacked using zerene. About 1.3mm body length. Dicyrtomina saundersi
Published in a blog! :)
"Food-web ecology at its best: spiders, springtails and leaf-litter decomposition"
Dicyrtomina ornata