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Pink springtail time - too much to drink !
Pharted version of www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/5453152632/
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In my garden 24th March 2011
So tiny I was not sure they were animals. Thousands of them in my compost bin. One of natures decomposers and as such essential for our survival. These are recycling Potato peelings.
Was taking some shots for a dewdrop refraction stack, when this little guy appeared on the scene!
The drop is small, about 2 mms, so it´s a small springtail. Kind of messed up the sequence for the dewdop!
Series of 2 shots
I usually concentrate on globular springtails (the Symphypleona) but because the county (Staffordshire) is collating an atlas of springtails, I'm trying to photograph whatever I see. The trouble is, I'm not too hot on identifying these long, bristly types (the Entomobryomorpha). I think though, that this is Entomobrya intermedia. The U-shaped marking at the end of the abdomen has the corners missing. They are present in Entomobrya nivalis.
I did not see this tiny little springtail is maybe 0.2mm long I was wondering what the thing it is on was.
It is maybe a hoverfly larvae
The whole frame was 9mm wide but this lost so it is a massive crop
Found under a Laceleaf Maple Bush on a pot. I am out of practice and I am not able to tell if this is a new one for me. I am hoping Frans or others can help me ID it so I can know if I should take better photos.
I went back later to see if I could find any more and I found this one. Really like it- from the back the white blotching defines into a white stripe but I can't track the ID down yet.
I found this springtail under a rotting branch today. It's infected with a fungus. I've seen this once before on a globular springtail and have seen other photographs too. Typically, the head does not seem to get affected in these circumstances.
I assumed this was a Dicyrtomina species, but could be a pale form of Dicyrtoma fusca. Not really sure. Perhaps Frans will comment.
I once thought it might be Dicyrtomina saundersi, due to presence of horizontal bars on the posterior of this collembola. - Nikon D90 + Tamron 90mm macro f:2.8 + 68mm macro tubes + SB900 strobe.
There's a whole load of clamouring springtail photos waiting to be uploaded from NZ, but I can't help myself. This is just cool. A find from yesterday at St. Columba's falls. I think this one might be Adelphoderia regina, a singular species with its own genus, named and described by Penny Greenslade in 1982. It's only been recorded so far in Tasmania and has those distinctive neck organs, unique to the Spinothecinae. Here is a quote from Hopkins, referencing Greenslade.
"Spinothecinae is a small subfamily found in cool temperate forests that contains only four described species in two genera*. Adelphoderia regina is confined to Australia. Of the remaining species in the genus Spinotheca, one occurs in New Zealand and two in South America. The subfamily is characterised by the presence of a pair of unusual tubular organs encircling the neck. These are filled with haemolymph and may function as sites of gas exchange."
*(This has now changed, with the discoveries of an extra member of Spinotheca as well as another genus/species, Troglospinotheca/ T. refsgaardiorum.)
These are, I think, the first photos ever taken of a live Spinthecinae, again, one of the thrills of doing macro photography, and coming all this way to do it!
So I'm on the look out for better photos, and also the species in NZ...
Found this colourful little chap in a big plant pot I keep for my lillys , he was approx 1.5mm - 2mm.
The image itself is quite dull , but this guy was deep in the plant pot & the flash barely made an impact. He wasn't hanging around either, god these guys bounce around like crazy when disturbed :-)
Image had to be captured using the Raynox Dcr150 & 250 macro conversion lenses coupled together
Best Viewed On Black , Press L
Taken at 5:1 with flash and focus stacked. see www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/2229761597/ for a natural light shot of the same springtail
A shot this morning of a springtail having a drink of what looks like dew mixed with pollen! Must be quite yummy!
Another one from today; looking at sizes and colouration in this Katiannid springtail species. This one is a typical female (a feeding instar). Compare with the previous image. 1.25mm in length.
Canon MP-E65mm Macro (at 5x) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + diffused MT24-EX Twinlite flash.
Like most simple organisms, springtail behaviour runs on a pretty simple algorithm:
1. Can it eat me?
2. Can I eat it?
3. Can I make love to it?
Here Orchesella cincta meets Tomocerus minor. Unusually, they didn't immediately spring away from each other but spent some time checking the other out. Pheromone confusion?
Both sexes are pretty quick on their feet, but the male especially so. They're a mass of setae, so far, the most I've seen on a male springtail, with those distinctive two dorsal lines of long setae. A beautiful little thing.
All the same species (I think), but not all the same individual. I suppose it's D. saundersi again, but these seemed to have unusually bright whitish markings on their sides, the significance of which is beyond me. Fallen leaves make for excellent backdrops, anyhow. In the Strathbrock & Kirkhill Woodlands.
Canon EOS 5D mark III, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x, Kenko extension tubes, Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT (handheld, Live View focus).
All 65+68mm, f/8, 1/200, ISO 1600 (ETTL).