Springtail on a fence X2. Focus stacked using zerene

Globular springtail on the side of the pond. Sminthurides aquaticus

Llanymynech Rocks, Shropshire

Globular springtail on a fence X4. Focus stacked using zerene

Springtails on a clay pot. Sminthurinus domesticus. About 0.6mm body length. Merged shots of the same springtail

Springtail on a dustbin lid X4. Focus stacked using zerene

Pity about the antenna blocking the eye but still liked this shot

Globular springtail on the greenhouse glass

Springtail on clay pot. Sminthurinus lawrencei

5x vergroot

Tiny little collembola, from 0.5 to 0.8 mm.

The first globular springtail I encountered in our Staffordshire garden this morning was another Katianna nr schotti! Once again, I'm attempting to determine gender of these (as requested by Frans Janssens). There is a hint of a sub-anal appendage (SAA) on this one. If so, that would make it a female.

Globular springtail on damp surface. Focus stacked using zerene

Globular springtails

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Your comments and favs do not go unnoticed and are appreciated more than you know

I picked up a new toy today and now have a new found interest in spring tails. This is a single image at the max mag on the 90mm but now doubled by having a 2x tele converter fitted. As my brain learns the new working distance I shall improve and might be able to get some stacks if any ever sit still long enough..

Spring tails are very small and also very interesting. They vary a lot. Some have eyes and some do not.

Location , Wodonga , VIC , Australia 🇦🇺

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Sminthurides penicillifer ssp. bifidus

Springtail raft of Ceratophysella sp. on a small puddle on a compost bin lid

Springtail mountaineering class

Springtails on fence rail

A trip to Swell Wood this morning to test out my new flash and diffuser on some of the resident critters.

Springtails on the pond edge X4. Sminthurides aquaticus

Springtail on clay pot. About 0.8mm body length. Sminthurinus domesticus

Small globular springtail. Natural light

Another globular springtail under a fallen Beech leaf in our garden.

I'm assuming that this is one of the colour forms of Sminthurinus aureus. I rarely see the "regular" golden form in our Staffordshire garden; usually the much darker atratus and ochropus forms. This is somewhere in-between.

Dicyrtominae?

Springtails on the compost bin rim X4

He likes potato peelings !

Springtail on a water barrel lid X4. Focus stacked using zerene

Springtail raft on a small puddle on the top of a compost bin. Ceratophysella sp.

Springtail on a fence rail. Dicyrtomina saundersi. Focus stacked using zerene

Springtails playing king of the hill X4

springtail hiding amongst fossils. taken with reversed 18-55mm and homemade flash diffuser.

Dicyrtomina ornata

Globular springtail on a fence X4. Focus stacked using zerene

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

Thanks to Frans Janssens for ID.

Not a great picture, but it has rained so much that the springtails have been flushed out the soil! Not a creature I usually get to see, they are so small I usually don't stop to investigate them

Springtail on a greenhouse strut X4. Focus stacked using zerene

Springtails on water barrel lid. Focus stacked using zerene

One from today. I've been seeing this form in the garden for a few days but haven't managed decent shots before. This one paused sufficiently for me to get several shots. I've blended elements from each shot to produce this composite.

This (to me) is a "classic" Group 1 mature (~1.25mm) form. It has a dark pigmentation pattern on the abdomen with abd.6 non-pigmented. The abdomen also has little orange/red pigmentation. The head however, does have orange pigmentation. Occasionally I see very darkly pigmented forms (see yesterday's image for example) that do not have any orange pigmentation of the head (except perhaps for a small dot). Group 1 and Group 2 forms usually do though.

[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. Cropped.]

Springtails on acer leaf in the compost bin

Globular springtail on bamboo leaf. Focus stacked using zerene

Globular springtail on a fence X4. Focus stacked using zerene

In the recent snowy weather I thought I'd see how the Globular Springtails were faring and turned over a few rocks in my garden. To my surprise there were still lots of springtails attached to the underside of the rocks, many partially set into the ice. As the light reached them they slowly started to move and these two shots are of a couple of individuals wandering around the ice.