From my garden, Bromley, South London/North Kent, at 2.7 Mag, post processing test part4

Globular springtail on a water barrel X4. Focus stacked using zerene

Springtails X4

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

Thanks to Frans Janssens for ID.

Focus stacked from 3 pics. taken at 3.8:1

Globular springtail- natural light. Taken at 4.8:1 FF

Globular springtails on water barrel lid. Focus stacked using zerene

A clearer photo of one of my springtails

Some more springtails today - from under stones around a little shelter by Llandrindod Lake. Quite productive, and only spent ten minutes there. :o)

Tridentate spines on dens.

I forgot I had these photos! Always meant to add them here when I had some decent female photos, but they're a little tricky so I'll post up what I've got so far... They run around pretty quickly and jump far too easily, little buggers. Maybe when it's a bit cooler... It's worth bearing in mind that the larger adult female is 0.5mm while the male is only 0.35mm. The juveniles are much smaller!

Springtails in the crows nest. Ceratophysella sp. plus a tiny mite

A dew covered globular springtail on the glass of the greenhouse roof

This is a lovely one, found amongst the S. aquaticus, can't find it yet though... Red eye patch is kind of cool. Anyone got an idea?

I haven't had much success with the keys for this ~1mm specimen from leaf litter - this group is very new to me.

We have had a decent amount of rain over the last two weeks. Enough to get a small creek running for a morning through our property. We have set up a path to the veggie patch to help keep our feet clean. A drain runs under the path. The brick is to slow the water down.

I went down in the morning to see springtails gathering on the edge of the small pool of water.

They were there the next morning too but since we haven't had much rain, there has been no more.

Isotomurus and Isotoma are always difficult for me, but hope this is right..?

a 1.5mm long springtail

2-iii-2014

A big globular springtail. Taken at 5:1 FF and uncropped

Springtails oncompost bin rim

Another globular springtail from leaf-litter this morning. Again, very small (~ 0.5mm) and with a pleasant colour pattern. Not sure what to make of this one!

[Update: Frans Janssens identified as a pale form of Sminthurinus icniceps]

Canon MP-E 65mm (at x5) + 1.4x Extender + MT24-EX Flash. Cropped a bit.

I think these are all Entomobrya intermedia although I'm not quite sure about the juvenile, bottom left?

Springtails have a spring-loaded tail with a release mechanism that catapults them into the air, allowing them to "jump" like a flea. I have never seen this kind before, or this many in one place. These are large compared to your common springtail.

Here is an interesting factoid about the little buggers:

"Researchers at Queen's University (Canada) have sequenced and synthesised the anti-freeze-like protein that allows snow fleas to operate in sub-zero environments, and found it to be glycine-rich, and unlike any previously known protein. There are hopes that similar proteins may be useful for storing transplant organs and for producing better ice cream. By preventing the formation of ice crystals in tissues, organs could be stored at lower temperatures, increasing the time of their viability outside a living body. Unlike proteins with similar functions in other species, the protein found in snow fleas breaks down easily at higher temperatures."

Couldn't work out an ID for this one other than in a

Yellow globular = Family: Bourletiellidae, likely Genus Deuterosminthurus, female

Elongate = Entomobrya assuta

(Thanks to Frans for the IDs and info!)

I didn't notice the little pale one up top till I had the image on my monitor here, so it's just happy coincidence that she happens to be in the same focal plane as my intended subject. And I was just thinking how I hadn't seen a globular springtail around my door in a while now. This girl is obviously different than those I got before, as he's pale and unmarked. I like the stripes on the elongate one.

04/22/2008

Alexandria, VA, USA

On door step

Thanks to Frans Janssens for the ID.

Found during a night hike in Mt. Isarog national park, Philippines.

Springtail

Springtails in compost bin. Interesting colour range which I think depends on size and whether they have just moulted. Taken at 4:1 and cropped.

Opened the little door at the bottom of the composter today and my first thought was that someone had spilled some sort of powder all over. On closer examination the powder was moving, and on even closer inspection it was jumping! Gardening briefly abandoned while I got my camera. Couldn't get in to them as they were slightly inside the bin, but this is just a very small area, there were literally thousands! Most were less than 0.5mm. Uploaded this quickly, will have a look at the other photos tomorrow to see if there are any better ones.

A springtail on a different flower for a change!

I found this S. aquaticus trying to right itself so took the opportunity to take its photo!

Springtail grazing in a field of green - actually algae/lichens growing on a fence rail

I found this tiny globular springtail last week. It had just rained, and I found it under a rotting board. It was about .5mm long, translucent pink, and had distinct, almost clubbed, antennae. I don't know what species this is, but I hope it is a juvenile of the Ptenothrix-Bothriovulsus sp. that I found last year. If it is a juvenile of that species, that means that I should be able to find adults in the same area.

Hanging out on the Hypoxylon. Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC, USA.

a rather large Allacma fusca springtail with a pronounced delta silhouette rather than the expected globular shape, found under the power lines in Flatropers Wood

Springtail The real size is 3.28 mm, magnification is 2.52, from the allotment.

See: collembolla.blogspot.com/p/vc55-atlas.html

Springtail on the greenhouse roof. I placed a small flower above it to reflect some colour back onto the glass

AJC Springtails: 16.06.18 - Bradgate Park collembolla.blogspot.com/2018/06/160618-bradgate-park.html

A damp springtail on a fence rail. Focus stacked using zerene