View allAll Photos Tagged springtail
Went on a macro hunt in the local Woodland today, these are Springtails but not the Globular Springtails, these springtails or Collembolan are larger than the Globular Springtails but still only about 3mm
On Sunday, after a few minutes of futile search for arthropods to capture in macro, I decided to try my luck on the micro scale... So, I quickly assembled my ultra macro rig, this time coupled with my speedlite flash, on a bracket, right next to the tip of the lens, fitted with a DIY diffuser made using LordV's recipe (thank you Brian!). Then I headed for the pond to try my luck on the water-lily leaves and was rewarded by discovering some fascinating little creatures, like this one (I also shot an aphid and a heteropteran nymph).
This tiny fella (hardly 1mm long) is not an insect, although a Hexapod (bearing 6 legs). It's a Globular Springtail, a member of the order Collembola, which belongs to a class called Entognatha (because they have internal mouthparts). Collembolans have the widest distribution of any hexapod group, occurring throughout the world, including Antarctica and they are probably the most abundant hexapods on Earth, even though they usually go unnoticed because of their small size. They are soil and litter dwelling, preferring wet or damp surroundings and the majority of them feeds on decomposing organic material, thus playing an important part in any ecosystem.
Best viewed: Large, On Black.
For more info on these amazing creatures, check out this excellent online resource: www.collembola.org/
And if you wish to see some awesome collembolan macros, be sure to check out the springtail sets of Lord V and aphid twix. Respect!
kingdom: Animalia
phylum: Arthropoda
subphylum: Hexapoda
class: Entognatha
order: Collembola
suborder: Symphypleona
family: Bourletiellidae
Lichen off of bark is their favorite food. They are thriving in good numbers in three cultures. Originally collected from my backyard
Globular springtail walking on damp greenhouse glass (with a milk bottle top behind suppling a little colour) when it suddenly started doing some rather odd contortions before walking off normally again. Not sure if it tripped or got stuck on a spider web tthread
A male today ~0.75 mm. I'm definitely on the lookout for males now in an attempt to see if there is a clear differentiation between Group 1 and Group 2 males. Here's a composite of three images. What's interesting is that although abd.6 is dark (like Group 2 females) there is a hint of a pale longitudinal stripe on the dorsum and a very dark "mask" shape on abd.5. Both of these are features of mature Group 1 females. Could this be a Group 1 male?
[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. As a result of the initial findings, Frans is speculating that there are two distinct groups:
Group 1 - where abd.6 in adults is pale, and
Group 2 - where abd.6 in adults is dark.
Canon MP-E65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + diffused MT24-EX Twinlite flash. Cropped.]
Springtail 10X. Taken handheld using my mk2 microscope lens camera setup. Focus stacked using zerene
Another large (~ 1.45 mm) mature female of Group 2 from the garden today. At the moment, I'm concentrating on shots that allow gender differentiation. The survey has shown that "red-back" individuals aren't always male (in fact, they have been predominantly female). I'm now seeking out males for both Group 1 and Group 2.
[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. As a result of the initial findings, Frans is speculating that there are two distinct groups:
Group 1 - where abd.6 in adults is pale, and
Group 2 - where abd.6 in adults is dark.
Canon MP-E65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + diffused MT24-EX Twinlite flash. Cropped.]
Another of these tiny, darkly-pigmented Sminthurinus springtails; possible one of the dark forms of Sminthurinus aureus.
The way the fifth abdominal segments is fused helps to differentiate them, but I have to admit to still having some trouble understanding exactly where the different abdominal segments start and end. Perhaps one of the experts could kindly annotate the image for me.
Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm (at x5) + 1.4x Extender + 36mm extension tube. Cropped a little.
A few springtails in the compost bin. mainly Proisotoma minuta. They look like grey dust that moves to the naked eye
One of several large individuals from the garden today. 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 approaching 1.5 mm. This is a BIG one!
[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.]
Another trip to the "Katiannid wall" today. I went just after all the heavy rain had finished. The wall was damp and there were hundreds of them! This is the species designated Katiannidae Genus nov.1 sp. nov.; i.e., yet to be ascribed to a genus and species.
The species exhibits marked sexual dimorphism when it comes to pigmentation/colouration. The mature females I've seen are pale with black pigment spots and the mature males display lots of red (like the individual bottom-right). Immature forms are generally speckled orange/yellow and there's a whole range of intermediate forms; gradually getting more colourfully-pigmented through the developing instars.
Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x Tele-extender + ST24-EX Twin Lite flash.
A rather dark Group 2 female from the garden this morning.
[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. As a result of the initial findings, Frans is speculating that there are two distinct groups:
Group 1 - where abd.6 in adults is pale, and
Group 2 - where abd.6 in adults is dark.
Canon MP-E65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + diffused MT24-EX Twinlite flash. Cropped.]
Globular springtail on a water barrel lid. Focus stacked using zerene. See www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/25777240615/ for a 3D version
Another from our Staffordshire garden in a series (hopefully), attempting to measure the various male and female, juvenile and adult instars of this Katiannid springtail. The sexes become easier to differentiate as they mature. This one could be a sub-adult female. I'll wait and see what FransJanssens@www.collembola.org says though!
After having these springtails in large numbers recently, this was the only individual I found this morning. Their numbers do vary with the weather conditions though, so hopefully lots more tomorrow!
Canon MP-E65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + diffused MT24-EX Twinlite flash. Two images blended in PSE.
A springtail, this particular one is Bourletiella arvalis (thanks Eddie!), on a blade of grass.
Here's a (very shaky) video of some more. I'm not quite sure if these are the same species as the one in the picture, they were no where near as yellow (more of a browny colour) and had much more purple pigmentation. I think they may have been slightly smaller, if that's possible, or they could have just been better camouflaged.
Edit: And it's a boy! Thanks Frans, I'm amazed you can determine that from this image!
Another shot from today's visit to the local colony of a "novel" globular springtail; Katiannidae Genus nov.1 sp. nov.. You can see just how many there were on their favourite section of a local Staffordshire church wall. Once I would have been thrilled to see just one of these, today they were present in their hundreds!
A single shot at F5.6 here. These springtails are very active and there was no opportunity to attempt a focus-stack so a very narrow depth-of-field sadly, and a lot of glare from the wet surface.
Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x Tele-extender + ST24-EX Twin Lite flash. Most of these springtails around 0.8mm or less.
Globular springtail. This one has the longest rear end hair I've seen- one of them just reaches the left side of the frame making it about 1.6mm long
I missed the shot of them altogether but I was still surprsed to find them in one place.
Hypogastrura sp., Katiannidae, Lepidocyrtus sp.,
Globular springtail on the underside of a fallen leaf. Focus stacked using zerene. Dicyrtomina saundersi.
A few captures of various springtails found in my garden this afternoon , only spent about 20 minutes or so out as it was cold and wet, but found a few
Main shot Dicyrtomina saundersi
Second capture Ceratophysella sp.
Third capture ..... Not sure
Here's the only individual I found on my first springtail foray this morning.
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. Abd.6 in this individual is dark (almost as dark as abd.5). It is therefore a mid-sized (~ 0.8mm) Group B.
[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.]