Sprintails Katiannidae

I went back to a local Shropshire churchyard today looking for springtails for the Shropshire Springtail Atlas. Only saw one additional species, but thought I'd also try to get some better Sminthurinus niger shots. I'd seen a couple on a single gravestone previously. Well, I went back to the same gravestone and all I could find was this single individual.

I don't see this species very often, but they have always been difficult to photograph. They just don't seem to keep still and being very dark (and only around 1mm), are difficult to keep track of through the viewfinder. I did manage a couple of decent shots though.

This was at 8x magnification (MP-E lens at 4x + 2x Tele-extender). The image was also cropped by around 20%

Two globular springtails on a water barrel lid. Focus stacked using zerene

Springtail on a clay pot

Globular springtail X4. Focus stacked using zerene. Dicyrtomina saundersi

Globular springtail on a water barrel

28 mm reversed - stack of 2 pictures

Springtails at Swell Wood a few days ago. Many thanks to Max Thompson Photo and Ellie Hilsdon who scurried around finding likely-looking logs while I mostly sat at the picnic table!

stacking of 19 pics

Springtails on mould X2. Focus stacked using zerene

SDIM3327

White blind springless springtail on the underside of a fallen leaf

A white, blind, springless springtail. Probably Kalaphorura burmeisteri. Found in leaf litter

Springtail X4 . Sminthurinus domesticus on a clay pot

Another raft of springtails

Globular springtails on a fence post. Focus stacked using zerene.

Globular springtail Sminthurinus niger. 0.96mm body length

Strange mould with springtails X2. In the compost bin

A pair of Sminthurinus aureus on a leaf, on the left is a female and on the right is a male, the male is possibly still quite juvenile. The male of this species is always quite a bit smaller than the female, it is a usual thing with Springtails that males go through fewer moults than the female, so females can reach larger sizes. Also there is usually a 10:1 ratio with Globular Springtails, 10 females to every male.

I always find these on fallen green leaves, I use a small pocket magnifying glass to check the leaf for signs of life, very occasionally I can see these with the naked eye, but if there is debris/dirt on the leaf it is next to impossible. The male in this image would not be possible to spot easily with the human eye.

Once located it is a case of training the camera on the area you spotted the subject and even then a lot of systematic scannining of leaf can be required. I have recently taken to focusing on these with live view, you can zoom in at x10 and get pretty good focusing :o)

Female about 0.8mm and male about 0.4mm, taken at x7 with MP-E and 1.4x Teleconverter and on a cropped sensor camera :o)

Taking a globular springtail for a walk. Focus stacked using zerene but I cheated and merged a picture of another springtail taken at higher mag. You can see the proper size dufference here www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/11167726253/

ID thanks to Frans.

A juvenile globular springtail under a fallen Beech leaf in our Staffordshire garden this morning.

I'm assuming it's Sminthurinus elegans. In adults, the markings are much darker. I don't recollect seeing them this colour before (but I don't recollect much these days)!

Globular springtail X4. Focus stacked using zerene. Taken handheld using a 4X microscope lens on a sony mirrorless body

Mum, Dad, Myself and the dogs went for our normal Sunday morning walk in our local Woods, we couldn't believe the amount of globular Springtails (Dicyrtomina saundersi) which covered a wooden bench, they were grazing on the algae, I've never seen so many in one small area, as seen in the last picture

Globular springtail on a clay pot

Springtails on a clay pot X4. Sminthurinus domesticus and Xenylla sp.

Globular springtail on water barrel lid

I've been attempting to photograph the various instars of this globular springtail species for Frans Janssens (FransJanssens@www.collembola.org) from collembola.org. He requested that I also include a scale bar (particulary for the juvenile instars), so I had a play with PSE this morning to attempt a method of doing this.

For springtails, I'm currently using a standard set-up; MP-E Macro lens set (at 5x magnification) + 1.4x tele-extender + a 25mm extension tube. I used this same arrangement to photograph a ruler marked in millimetres and overlaid the image with the white scale. I then merged that with a transparent layer and saved it. I can now use this transparent overlay to position the scale. I'm not sure whether there's a simpler method of doing this, but it seems to work!

This is a mature male of the species. You can see that it's ~1.1 mm long. I'll probably improve this by making a 2 mm scale as well, sub-divided into tenths!

Springtail Sminthurinus sp on an upturned clay pot. Down the hole in the middle

Springtails on the rim of a compost bin. Mainly Ceratophysella sp.

Globular springtail on a windowsill. Focus stacked using zerene. See www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/30833734484/ for a 3D version

Not only are my parents (www.flickr.com/photos/68769579@N07/ and www.flickr.com/photos/75728961@N06/) THE BEST parents I could ever wish for (giving me the most stable, supportive and balanced upbringing, but also always there for me now), but they are also so generous and thoughtful---this superb MP-E 65mm lens was their surprise gift to me today! I'm so lucky :D

Any hints/tips on using my new lens gratefully received. I'd be particularly grateful for any tips on flash, as I have only the on-camera flash (although I do also have a very old, probably 20+ years old, off-camera flash, kicking about somewhere---no idea if it's compatible with my camera).

Oh.. and Happy New Year to everyone :D

Springtails on fence rail

Belted Springtail, Collembola, Orchesella cincta.

Adult female.

Springtails are small, wingless relatives of insects and typically have six abdominal segments, a tubular appendage projecting ventrally from the first abdominal segment, and a forked, tail-like appendage, the furcula, folded under the last abdominal segment, with which the animal can flip itself into the air. There are no larval or pupae stages, the newly hatched springtails resemble the adults and they moult several times during their life cycle.

Springtails are one of the largest groups of insect-like organisms found in the soil. A close relative of silverfish, these arthropods include over 9000 separate species world-wide. They are no longer considered insects but remain arthropods for classification purposes.

Orchesella cincta is a species of Springtail present in Europe and North America. They average 4 millimetres in length, which is extremely large as most springtails don’t grow past 1 millimetre. The specific name cincta means "belted" and refers to the distinctive colouration of the third abdominal segment.

Orchesella cincta is one of the most common species in the British Isles where it is known from multiple locations in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland. It lives in soil and among leaf litter in woodland.

Members of the genus Orchesella have six antennal segments. Orchesella cincta has a distinctively pigmented third abdominal segment and a dark third antennal segment. In contrast, the posterior part of the second abdominal segment and the distal part of the second antennal segments are white. The fifth and sixth antennal segments are brown, but otherwise the colouring of antennae and abdomen are variable, ranging from reddish-brown through various shades of brown to blackish. The body is thickly clad with hairs.

There is a tendency for the antennae to be of unequal length, perhaps because of damage to the antennae during the developmental stages.

Springtails on a clay pot. Sminthurinus sp. Around 1mm body length

Springtail X10. Focus stacked using zerene. trying a 10X objective lens- very difficult to use

I took a photo of the globular springtail on the right hand side of the photo but later I noticed a smaller one on the left! Taken in Durham Botanic Gardens, UK.

Globular springtail- slightly different shooting angle to this one www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/2201425006/

Collembola, showing its eversible vesicle cleaning tubes, these multi-function extrudable 'appendages', are used for cleaning the body surface with hemolymph fluid, (which is like the invert equivalent to blood plasma), and the absorption of water and ion transport for osmoregulation, adhering to surfaces, and potentially for releasing pheromones and aiding in mating displays...

Wish I got better some shots of this little fella.

Katiannidae, (Collembola) size approx 0.8mm only.