View allAll Photos Tagged springtail
Well, it's been a bit damp recently and it's also ages since I've been springtail-hunting in my local churchyard. I spent many happy hours there last autumn/winter photographing them and seeing how species changed during the "season". For me, the springtail "season" means the time that I'm not photographing bees/wasps primarily; October to March-ish.
It's likely that we will be moving house shortly, and I'll miss my regular churchyard photo-sessions. There's a village church where we're moving to though, so time to start exploring new territory perhaps!
I wasn't disappointed today as there was lots of springtail activity. I find that the underside of fallen laurel leaves provides an environment they seem to like. Lots of very small juveniles around too, so should be lots to see over the coming weeks. It soon became apparent to me though that I'd lost the knack of photographing them and need to polish my technique. Also, the images I got with my Canon 1D3 today, weren't of the quality I was getting with my 5D3 last year. I'll revert to my usual setup before I go looking again.
It's also clear that I need to look back over last year's images and remind myself how to attempt to differentiate this little critters. I think that apart from the one top-right (not sure about that one), these are all Sminthurinus species. Bottom right looks like one of the Sminthurinus aureus f. reticulata types that I was seeing last year that have a pigment "moustache". Good to see them again!
A mature individual from my local colony of a "novel" globular springtail. This type has been designated Katiannidae Genus nov.1 sp. nov. i.e. yet to be assigned to a genus and species. I think by the colouration that this is a fairly mature male. The mature females are less colourful, often with transverse bands of black pigment spots.
This is a single shot. They are a very active species and I haven't managed a focus-stack yet!
Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x Tele-extender + ST24-EX Twin Lite flash.
Ptenothrix renateae, globular springtail, on Resurrection Fern (Pleopeltis michauxiana). The underside of the frond here shows the peltate scales which are critical for rehydration of the fern and aid in water distribution.
I feel particularly excited today. Recently, at the local churchyard, I've spotted (through my hand-lens), what I thought might be the globular springtail Sminthurinus elegans. This is a species that I've not managed to photograph before. In the past, they have always "sprung" off of the leaf before I could get them in may camera viewfinder. Today, this one obliged for a few seconds and I got this, and another, lateral shot. In focus too! I think that it is Sminthurinus elegans. I couldn't see the fine mid-dorsal stripe though, that is apparently diagnostic for the species. Perhaps it's Sminthurinus elegans f. ornata. I await the thoughts of the experts. It's certainly a species or colour-form that I've not encountered before.
It might seem strange to get so excited about seeing something so small. This individual is only ~ 0.5mm. But to me, a trip around my local churchyard is like a mini-safari. Seeing this, is like spotting my first leopard!
Interestingly, I find that these little Sminthurinus springtails are particularly "sensitive" and more likely to spring away than some other genera. Today, I took a sheet of white paper with me and positioned the leaf on this. After the shot, this springtail jumped off the leaf and landed about 5cm from the edge of the paper. It then jumped right off the sheet. That's over 100 times its own length!
(Springtails have a special twin-forked organ - the furca - that is held in tension under the body. When the springtail is disturbed, the furca is released. springing the springtail into the air).
Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm (at x5) + 1.4x Extender + MT24-EX Flash. Cropped a little.
Messingham - 18-04-26 - My first macro outing this year. A variety of little critters found around the reserve.
Quite a few colourful globular springtails in the garden today, all Dicyrtomina saundersi as far as I can tell. They stayed still on the surface of standing water, but drifted about imperceptibly, rendering most attempts at focus stacks a failure. This was the best I could do.
Canon EOS 5D mark III, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT (handheld, Live View manual focus).
~5x(65mm, f/5.6, 1/200, ISO 800) (5x magnification, stacked in HeliconFocus).
The Hem woods. Springtails are becoming harder to find as the weather gets warmer & (at times) drier.
Was surprised to see about twenty Dicyrtoma fusca springtails on the underside of a fallen laurel leaf. Conditions must be just right for them at the moment. This male stood still for a bit but not still enough for a focus stack. I therefore blended details (not perfectly!) from three different images in Photoshop, to show some springtail features. This chap just under 2mm.
I have to admit to still not putting too much effort into springtails recently. Although we've had rain now the ground is still very dry and unproductive so all samples have come from sweeping or beating vegetation. I sampled a couple of sites near Croxton Kerrial and also at Charley on Charnwood. I didn't find anything very exciting but Deuterosminthurus pallipes is by far the most frequent species at the moment. Every one of the hundreds I have found have been the yellow form - I've still only ever found a single specimen of the purple nominate form.
Another garden springtail (~1.2 mm), this one showing typical Group 2 colouring (in contrast with previous image). The whole abdominal area is darkly pigmented (including abd.6) with some distinct orange/red areas. These red areas can be even more numerous. The head is also deeply pigmented over much of the surface.
[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.]
Someone sent me some springtails to identify which they had found grazing on a church wall. My first thought was Hypogastrura viatica but I've spent two days banging my head against the chaetotaxy and they're not! They have 111 clavate tenant setae (c.f. H. viatica: 233; H. purpurescens: 232), so H. manubrialis is a possibility but frankly I'm unconvinced by the mucro, so they're going to remain as Hypogastrura spp. However, I'd welcome comments from anyone who is better with these than I am.
UPDATE: this is Hypogastrura manubrialis.
A juvenile instar of ~0.4 mm; the smallest I've photographed so far (the inset image in not to the same scale).
[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. Heavily cropped.]
I've been experimenting with a bespoke flash bracket for my "ultra-micro" images (see earlier photograph). This has worked well but forced me to abandon my large diffusers and use just the MT24-EX flash with Stofen diffusers; resulting in some specular highlights appearing in some shots.
I've modified the flash arrangement by adding a piece of translucent polypropylene sheet over the Stofen diffusers. I need to experiment more, but here's my first test shot - a Kalaphorura burmeisteri. I'm quite pleased with the level of diffusion, but these are not particularly shiny anyway. Weather permitting, I'll do some more test shots tomorrow.
Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm (at 5x) + 1.4x Extender + 36mm extension tube + MT24-EX Flash.
Globular springtail- slightly different shooting angle to this one www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/2201425004/
AJC Springtails: Vertagopus Identification Guide
collembolla.blogspot.com/2018/12/vertagopus-identificatio...
Spotted this juvenile Dicyrtomina saundersii moving over a piece of terracota that had a spider in residence.
The poor thing got caught in a few strands of silk on the edge. It struggled for a few seconds to no avail, it even everted it's vesicles in an attempt to free itself.
As I'm a softy, I gave it the gentlest of nudges and it leapt free! Unfortunately it's leap took it into an even worse predicament, and was left dangling by it's legs and furcula from another part of the web.
Fortunately this time it was able to free itself quickly and escaped to freedom!!
Taken in Battle Ground, Clark Co., WA, USA
Found on fallen Douglas-Fir bough.
Thanks to Frans Janssens for ID.
Practicing my microscopy technique this morning on this juvenile springtail, which I think is Isotoma spp (three teeth on mucro)?
We trekked all the way over to Pickworth for two reasons, first because it is a biologically rich area which is seriously under recorded, and second to put dots on the atlas - it's as far east as you can go without being in Lincolnshire. Indeed on entering the wood you can stand with one foot in VC55 and the other in VC53 (selfie temptation resisted). And on entering the wood virtually the first thing we saw was an Orange Underwing (Archiearis parthenias). The Lepidoptera were spectacular - by the end of the day though we'd seen dozens of Orange Undwerwings (I stopped counting at 20) plus too many Brimstone and Peacock butterflies to count, three Commas and two male Orange Tips. It was hot and sweaty and I got sunburnt because I had not adjusted my headgear from winter (wooly) to summer (floppy). However, butterfly weather is not springtail weather, and the dry, cracked soil put a crimp in springtails recording, although we found many of the usual suspects. Pickworth is on the list for return visits in more favourable conditions.
I am sure Collembolists have better techniques than I but I haven't seen them. Been making it all up as I go. One way I do it is to take a piece of cardboard -preferably with one side coated with a photo to waterproof it - then I poke a hole in it at a good spot to carry it with one finger. The cardboard protects me from thorns, etc and gives a rather good background for photos. I can sit on one end and set a chunk of wood on it and search or shake litter over the end. I have just recently added my pastel painting brush to my bag to sweep off the debris to begin again. It is a brush about a foot long and flat. I have a water mister that I use on the containers before I put any animals in them to keep the humidity high. The rotting tree trunk you see here is where I have found Arrhopalitidae.
Taken in Battle Ground, Clark Co., WA, USA