View allAll Photos Tagged springtail
Springtail bundle on a little puddle of water. on the compost bin lid. They actually sail around on the surface with the slightest breeze.
My target species for the day, and this was the last that we saw on the day. These are soooo tiny the photo does not do it justice, I really needed the MPE-65, will take it next time! A further selection from Messingham on 20/3/19, some great macro out in the sun!
Another crop of springtail photo www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/46972023562/in/dateposted/ for Frans - three rear ends
Well, there's really not much around at the moment, but if you look hard enough, there's always some springtails.
This was on the underside of a piece of wood and didn't seem to want to dash off. I managed six images that I combined in Zerene Stacker. It didn't move a hair!
[Thanks Eddie and Frans (and others) for correcting my fundamental ID error!]
I've been trying track down my springtail, in amongst all the baby S. aquaticus. There were a few like this with very strong pigmentation so I'm thinking not aquaticus, or S. malmgreni, as I only ever found one S. malmgreni and the distribution of these one was about the same as the adult S. nr bifidus... Well, they've got to be somewhere and these little ones are the only ones that don't look like aquaticus!
Crop of 11:1
One from today's garden photography session. This is a pigmentation pattern that I see from time-to-time. The dorsal surface has a band of orange/red pigmentation spots. The black spots are limited to the lateral areas. Just to complicate matters, abd.6 has only light speckled pigmentation.
[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. This specimen ~1.05 mm. Cropped.]
I noticed these tiny fragments floating in small pools of melted snow, on closer inspection, they were actually moving - took a short video clip
Springless springtail in leaf litter X4. Probably Kalaphorura burmeisteri. Focus stacked using zerene
Springtails come in many different shapes and sizes. They are all associated with moist environments, and when they are discovered indoors, it is always the result of a problem with standing water, a leak or rotting wood. For some detailed information about Collembola see: www.collembola.org/
A Globular springtail on water with some pink card providing the colour. Taken around x4 life size at f8.
Radio controlled springtail. This springtail had the longest vertical hair on it's bum I have ever seen. Unfortunately it sprang before I completed the focus stack
Here's a selection of globular springtails, found today in our Staffordshire garden and the local area.
1. Dicyrtomina saundersi
2. Sminthurides aquaticus -
3. Katiannidae Genus nov1. sp. nov. - Female
4. Calvatomina nr superba. Juvenile - feeding instar (dark gut contents).
Canon MP-E65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + diffused MT24-EX Twinlite flash. Cropped.
One of the pleasures of getting a half-decent springtail shot is that it's somewhat challenging. Included in the challenges are :
- they are very small; often less than 0.5mm;
- at high magnifications, it's very hard to locate them through the viewfinder;
- they rarely keep still;
- they're prone to "springing" away when disturbed.
Because they are also very prone to desiccation, they prefer the underside of leaves etc., rather than the top. Once exposed to daylight, they invariably start walking. I assume that this behaviour has developed because before long, it will bring them to the edge of the object and allow them to disappear back underneath.
The images (instantly recognisable to springtail photographers) show two typical springtail scenarios, once you've finally tracked them down; half-hidden behind the edge of a leaf, or just disappearing under it!
The globular springtails are a pale form Sminthurinus igniceps (L), and Sminthurinus aureus (R).
Globular springtail portrait, a 6 shot focus stack taken at F5.6 5:1. This one seems to have a fallen star on it's back :) - see large size
I was at the local churchyard again this morning and pleased to see that there are plently of these little (all less than 1mm) "golden" Sminthurinus springtails around in the leaf-litter. I managed to get some reasonable photographs of three different individuals.
I think this composite image illustrates just how difficult it can be for the "amateur" (like me), to differentiate the different species and colour variants and how ID from photographs generally, is often an "educated" guess. I'll have a go anyway! I'll be looking back at Frans Janssens ultra-helpful guidance on the matter.
1. Even with my x10 hand-lens, I could see this was a particularly-deep golden colour. I reckon it's Sminthurinus aureus but there is a hint of an even darker "reticulate" pattern on the abdomen. Perhaps it's a dark form of Sminthurinus aureus f. reticulata?
2. With the paler overall colour and distinct orange reticulate pattern, I feel that this fits quite nicely with Frans' description of Sminthurinus aureus f. reticulata.
3. Now, Frans advises me that if the reticulate pattern had dark elements to the pigmentation (rather than just darker orange), it's legitimate to assume that it's Sminthurinus reticulatus. Sometimes the difference is clear; sometimes less clear. On this one I'll opt for Sminthurinus reticulatus!
Canon 1D3 + MP-E 65mm Macro (at x5) + MT24-EX Flash (-2/3 FEC). Cropped significantly.