These are very small and speed around, very seldom staying still. I think this is a baby, and this was a lucky shot!

Globular springtail X4. Focus stacked using zerene

Globular springtail walking on damp greenhouse glass (with a milk bottle top behind suppling a little colour)

I was so happy to get this shot of this tiny Springtail, they are quite fast and virtually impossible to see, let alone manually focus on one!!

A trip out to Messingham with the MPE-65 - not used this for a while, but quite pleased with the results today.

Courtship ritual- it was brilliant to find another species today... I can't decide if this is Dicyrtoma fusca or not... Frans? I haven't seen a male like this though the female looks very similar. Maybe Stenacidia violacea? The male does have a violet small abdomen... and extraordinarily long legs.

Another shots of the "novel" springtail Katiannidae genus nov.1 sp. nov.. This one is struggling to right itself following a "spring" and showing its ventral surface and the two-pronged furca. The furca is held in tension under the abdomen and when released, propels the springtail into the air. This is used an an escape mechanism.

Collembola Sminthurides aquaticus var. levanderi

A very large population persists in my lair. I wonder if this type of collembola is present all year, I will be able to study this question with the autumn and the winter that arrive

Globular springtail on Autumnal leaf. Focus stacked using zerene.

I normally expect to find these on slightly damp surfaces grazing on algae or biofilm. But you do sometimes find them on dry leaves 5 feet up in a bush feeding on I don't know what. Lovely colour/pattern on this one

Springtail X4. Xenylla sp.

Globular springtail on fence rail. About 2mm body length. Focus stacked using zerene

Small globular springtail

A damp globular springtail (covered in tiny dewdrops). Focus stacked using zerene

Springtail on sun chair. Entomobrya intermedia. Focus stacked using zerene

A raft of springtails sailing on a puddle of water on a compost bin lid. Ceratophysella sp. Every now and then the raft would split apart as a springtail tried to jump off. Good illustration of Newton's law of motion

springtails and snail eggs on the underside of a compost bin lid

Globular springtail X4. Taken handheld using a 4X microscope lens on a sony mirrorless body. Sminthurinus niger

Springtail on clay flowerpot. Sminthurinus domesticus

These springtails are very small and unlike the ones I usually see they are very speedy! So I was lucky to spot these 2 that stopped for a moment to say a few words!

Taken at 5x mag and cropped!

Nice to see these very common springtails again.

Patten's Rock Quarry, Benthall Edge, Shropshire.

Springtail on the water barrel

Vertagopus arboreus

Another from today's trip to check on progress on the colony of springtails on a local church wall. Lots were cleaning themselves. They excrete a droplet of fluid and roll it over themselves with their "feet". This one is attending to its antennae.

Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x Tele-extender + MT24-EX Twin Lite flash. This individual about 0.7mm.

First Dicyrtomina sp. globular springtail I've seen this season. Natural light at 4:1. Focus stacked using zerene

Lots of springtail activity today at the local churchyard. All the "usual suspects" plus this individual. I'm not sure, but I don't think I've photographed this species before.

It's very small (between 0.3 - 0.4mm). It stood out though, with its citrus-yellow colouration against the brown leaf. It was very active, but I managed to nail a couple of decent shots. It's about the same size and shape as the Sphaeridia pumilis I photographed yesterday, but without the characteristic marking behind the head. Could be Sphaeridia pumilis though.

I was very pleased to photograph the Sphaeridia pumilis yesterday, but was not very happy with the image quality. I think that F5.6 with the setup I'm using at the moment, gives too much diffraction with these ultra-small springtails. When I saw this one I decided to open-up the aperture by a couple of stops to F4.5. The detail is better but the depth-of-field is even more miniscule. It's all a matter of compromise though!

I also, mostly use the MT24-EX flash in ETTL mode. For yellow leaves, it'snecessary to adjust the Flash Exposure Compensation by plus two-thirds or one stop. Switching to a darker brown leaf, I had to remember to dial the FEC down to minus two-thirds of a stop.

Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm macro lens (at x5) + 1.4x Extender + 68mm of extension tubes + MT-24EX flash. Cropped a bit.

Dicyrtomina ornata

These are very small and speedy!

Bum shot of a springtail on a greenhouse strut X4. Focus stacked using zerene

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. In the lateral shot (+ insert) I cannot decide whether I'm seeing a sub-anal appendage (female) or a raised genital papilla (male). I'm yet to see a really "convincing" Group 1 male. What do you think Frans? Also, there seems to be some dark blue pigmentation on the anterior area of the abdomen.

[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.]

Two springtails on a wooden bench

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

A new springtail for me. Spotted on a fence panel, I think it's Entomobrya albocincta

Collembola (Allacma fusca) - Kugelspringer ~ 2mm

Not sure what this Ptenothrix Springtail got into - birthday cake?

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

Pogonognathellus sp.

Is it possible to I.D. the springtail at the bottom of the frame?

And for that matter, any suggestion about the mites (Oribatids?).

Springtails on the compost bin rim. Ceratophysella sp.

Springtails playing king of the castle on a leaf stem in the compost bin.

Springtails: tiny little things, yet they seem like such characters. We aren't supposed to use the term cute to describe invertebrates, thus linking human characteristics, but I think an exception might be made for these creatures.

More Springtails

Springtails under a rotting primrose root

Raft of globular springtails

Do like these shiny little chaps!

Brown Moss, Shropshire.