View allAll Photos Tagged springtail
Not sure on ID
Found under one of our Orchids, when watering i noticed the movement so poured the water back into the jug, they happily were jumping around on the surface of the water so i had plenty of time to set a camera up,
can you count them?
the largest ones could be 1 millimetre in length
springtail animation X4. Sminthurides aquaticus
See www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/51851373331/sizes/o/ for animation
A selection of globular springtails from our Staffordshire garden today. All found under fallen beech leaves on the lawn.
Top row; Sminthurinus aureus, both typical and dark forms. Bottom left Sphaeridia pumilis, bottom right Sminthurinus elegans.
The dark forms of Sminthurinus aureus are particularly numerous at the moment. One leaf that I looked under must have had several dozen on it!
Canon 5D Mk III + MP-E lens (at 5x magnification) + 1.4x tele-extender + 25mm extension tube + YN24EX flash. Heavily cropped.
The weather was so appalling today there was no scope for getting out with the camera so I brought the outside, inside. This is a springtail (Collembola) - Dicyrtomina ornata. It is a globular springtail about 2mm long, found on a piece of dead wood. They use their abdominal, tail-like appendage, the furcula, that is folded beneath the body for jumping when the it is threatened. It is held under tension by a small structure called the retinaculum (or tenaculum) and when released, snaps against the substrate, flinging the springtail into the air. All of this takes place in as little as 18 milliseconds. For their size they can jump incredible distances with 30cm being possible; scaled to a human that is equivalent to us jumping 270m!
A raft of springtails on a little puddle on my compost bin lid. Pinkish ones- Ceratophysella bengtssoni. Smaller pale ones- Proisotoma minuta. I did rescue them after :)
Family outing in Fred and Jean’s garden.
Deuterosminthurus sp. springtails
This is the time of the year to see springtails. They contribute to the health of your soil.
I saw these many years ago and because they are so tiny you have to look carefully for them. I knew I has seen the on our daisy petals and was very happy to find and photograph them again this year.
Males and females have a ritual before mating where they head butt each other and I managed to photograph a pair doing this. The females are much larger than the males.
Photos Swan View 7 August 2026
About this time in 2017, I visited an orchard in a walled-garden at a local stately home. I found an unusual Sminthurinus springtail there. It's possible that it's a species new to science and it has been given the designation "Sminthurinus sp.5 Janssens & Phillips 2017".
Today I visited the same site to see if I could find it again. The ground was rather dry and I struggled to find any leaves with springtails underneath. I then found a shaded area that yielded the specimens (1-5) above. Number 6 is an example of sp.5 from last year. Note the lateral and rear pigment patches and the patch with a horizontal line on abd.5. It looks like none of the five samples I found today are the same, although they are all Sminthurinus species. I'll be going back!
I haven't "got my eye in" yet this year, but assume that 1-5 are all forms of Sminthurinus aureus.
Two springtails on a fence rail. I was trying to do a focus stack of the two springtails but the smaller one insisted on walking around so I merged some shots of it
This i think is Orchesella cincta, one of the largest Springtails I've seen, about 4mm in length, not cute like the Globulars
A single shot taken with my MP-E 65mm lens, at about 2x magnification (with some re-directed on-camera flash---still to sort out something more permanent). I haven't quite got the dof or sharpness I'd want. I need some more practice, and to learn about stacking.
This was another shot taken on top of my compost bin, which is turning out to be a great place to find various bugs.
When you see this springtail, the yellow color is the first thing you notice and makes him different from the Dicyrtominae nearby. Also a very good jumper !
In august, I found some Allacma fusca in the park and after photoshoot, I let them free in the garden. This one I found now in the garden. Is this a juvenil ?
Sminthurides aquaticus forma levanderi - The male springtail, the smaller of the pair, grasps the female with specialized antennae. They may stay connected like this for hours while the female periodically lifts the male into the air.
Globular springtail walking on water in the bird bath. Have not cleaned the leaves out of it yet. Fun watching these as the slightest breath of wind and they go sailing across the surface
This was back in the summer. Whilst pursuing an uncooperative fly, only because I was looking through the macro lens, I realised I was being watched. This tiny Springtail was peeping out from the caterpillar silk on the leaf.
Globular springtail on a water barrel lid. Focus stacked using zerene. See www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/46225849901/ for a 3D version
A globular springtail in our Staffordshire garden this morning. It has the appearance of one of the dark forms of Sminthurinus aureus, but was MUCH larger than any of the "golden" forms that I've ever seen.
My little strawberry plants, I have moved them from the cold to the inside of the house. What's on it? Isotoma anglicana this time ? NO Isotoma viridis !!! (thanks Frans Janssens)
Stack 10 images in zerene Pmax
f/5.6, iso 100, 1/60sec
canon eos 60D, MP-E65mm at 4-5x, macro ringlite MR 14EX,