some pics from Sundays walk, today went out and the sun was shining, as soon as i got out of the car, it fell down with rain, so the camera didnt come out

Seems like every self-respecting macro photographer is posting photos of springtails this time of year. So, I thought it fitting that my first MP-E 65 shot should be one of a springtail.

I am still tweaking my lighting system before the summer, but this guy was shot at 5:1 and slightly cropped. He was about 1mm-1.5mm in length. As always, c&c is welcome.

For best results, please view LARGE

Enjoy!

This one is eating the flower

Springtails

www.nickybay.com

Current I.D. - Sminthurinus sp.5 Janssens and Phillips 2017

From a few miles northeast of Pittsburgh PA.

Sminthurides penicillifer ssp. bifidus

A few springtails

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

The best I could to get a picture of this very tiny Springtail. It never stopped moving and I was fascinated by it. I am not sure my lens can manage a clear shot of this little creature. Identification courtesy of Bugguide. bugguide.net/node/view/1174202

Globular springtail with dewdrops. Focus stacked using zerene

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

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

After the rain, springtails are happy :)

Moana, Lake Brunner, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand.

Globular springtail raft. I scooped these out off a water bucket with a milk bottle lid. After the photography I dropped them onto a sponge - they do eventually drown if they can't get off the water surface

Springtail

Springtail Isotoma riparia on an encrusting lichen on a wall

Taken in Yamhill County, OR, USA

Thanks to Frans Janssens for ID.

Springtail raft on a puddle on a compost bin lid. Ceratophysella bengtssoni

Fantastic Submission from Alan Kendall! Collage of foxes and hedgehogs sharing their meals!

Springtails on a clay pot X4

Well, these are definitely the hardest springtails I've tried to photograph so far! These are the best I can do at the moment- there's something about them that doesn't take a flash so well, Still, I had fun! Hopkin describes it's gait as a tiny old man hunched up in a coat and it really does look like that! It's blind too. The dark patches on top of the abdomen are the four gut compartments, full of food. The resolution is at the limits of my set up, which is very frustrating... I need more light and more magnification... oh, and a Canon 5D mark iii please. Just to point out- these are all extreme crops of 10:1 and 11:1 photos...

As Frans points out, this is the UK's smallest springtail, at 0.25mm adult. These are mostly 0.2mm with the suspected juvenile at around 0.12mm. Seriously, unbelievably, camera hand-numbingly small.

Springtail

Springtails on water surface

Globular springtail - natural light - focus stacked using zerene

Springtail on a fence rail. Isotomurus pseudopalustris, focus stacked using zerene

Springtail on a fence rail. Focus stacked using zerene

Larger than the previous one, but found under the same piece of wood.

Thanks to Frans Janssens for identifying this.

ID?

Globular springtail on the garage door. Focus stacked using zerene.

See www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/32461407701/ for a 3D version

Pogonognathellus sp. Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC, USA.

I was trying to get this one in focus and did´nt see the baby

Springtail grazing on a fence rail. Focus stacked using zerene. Isotomurus palustris.

Globular springtail on a water barrel. Focus stacked using zerene

managed to give me theye(s) as he walked by

Approximate size- 3 mm.

Springtail investigating a raindrop in a filter brush