Back out hunting for bugs and came across this little chap.

Using the MP-E65 with a1.4x extender and a 25mm extension tube, also the MT24-EX flash fitted with my own custom diffusers.

This is the smallest springtail I´ve seen. Must be 1mm or less. It was on a thin blade of grass. Very noisy as I had to crop a lot.

I've got aquatic springtails (Sminthurides) breeding in our garden wildlife pond. I've been taking lots of photographs over the last couple of days to try to get shots of the front feet. Why; because I might have an interesting species!

A recent shot that I posted was commented upon by FransJanssens@www.collembola.org. I had called it Sminthurides aquaticus but Frans said that the structure of the front foot was not correct for that species (in technical terms; the empodium was longer than the claw and it should be shorter). He suggested that it MIGHT be a form of Sminthurides penicillifer that is a Sminthurides aquaticus look-alike. This has not been reported in the UK before.

My attempts at front-foot shots amounted to nothing today, but I did like this one so thought I'd post it. Foot photography will continue tomorrow!

Britain's biggest springtail, this species can reach 6mm long (excluding antennae). This one was 5mm or so.

Eardington Nature Resreve.

Springtail Entomobrya intermedia on water barrel lid

In the garden early today to check for springtails for the survey. I have a number of terracotta pot fragments arranged in the area frequented by these. They were all frozen to the surfaces and as I prised them off one by one, I wasn't expecting to find anthing. Luckily, one pot fragment has this underneath it. As it was so cold, the springtail wasn't too keen to move. That allowed me to orientate the fragment and get a range of shots. 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 (1.3 mm) Group 2 individual and as the sub-anal appendage is visible, it's a female.

[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.]

Globular springtail on bamboo leaf

Springtail on a clay pot X4. Sminthurinus lawrencei

Springtails on a leaf edge X4

Globular springtail . Focus stacked using zerene

Globular springtail. Focus stacked using zerene

Dewy globular springtail

Crop from www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/4461314623/ showing finer detail

The springtail is 2.3mm long

Springtail on a water barrel lid X4. Lepidocyrtus sp.

High wire springtails X4 on mould mycelium

Very small Springtails X4 on the pond edge. Sminthurides aquaticus

High speed springtails on a fence X4. Vertagopus arboreus

Tiny globular springtail on moss covered clay pot. Sminthurinus domesticus

Springtail grazing on a water barrel

Bum shot of a globular springtail. Focus stacked using zerene

springtails on the compost bin

Springtails walking on water. A slightly extreme focus stack

1.6 mm long, and from moss-covered scree in a damp wood. I've tried to go through the key with this, and so far failed. Any ideas?

The face looks rather like a Calvatomina to me, except that the eyes should be on a pale patch...

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

Tiny globular springtail on moss covered clay pot. Sminthurinus domesticus

Springtail Entomobrya intermedia on the greenhouse glass. Focus stacked using zerene

The creeping Veronica in our rock wall is really pretty now, and after I examined the shot on the computer screen, I realized that there was a small yellow springtail (family Sminthuridae) on one of the flowers. It's a bit over a mm in size.

Springtail on a water barrel. Focus stacked using zerene

Baby springtails on clay pot X4

This tiny Springtail has lost part of an antenna.

Nikon D7100

lomo 3.7x 0.11 objective

55mm Extension Tube

f/4.5 - 1/250 - ISO 100

Dual Viltrox jy-610n II Speedlights 1/32 1/32 Yongnuo YN-24EX Macro Twin Flash 1/32

Homemade Diffuser

6 Images stacked (Handheld)

Field / Live specimen

Quite a few springtails. On the rim of a compost bin. Mainly Proisotoma minuta

Taken in Battle Ground, Clark Co., WA, USA

One from today; a large mature individual ~1.35 mm. 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.

[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.]

Order: Entomobryomorpha. Family: Isotomidae. Genus: Anurophorus. (Salem, MA)

Globular springtail on a greenhouse strut. Natural light/fill flash

A rescued springtail on the edge of a credit card. Focus stacked using zerene

Bottoms up - springtail on a fence rail. Focus stacked using zerene

Springtail on a water barrel. Focus stacked using zerene. Entomobrya intermedia

Photo from Preah monivong national park, Cambodia.