#macro #nature #springtail #notaninsect #mite #beetlemite #slimemould #slimemold
Like all arthropods, springtails need to shed their exoskeletons to grow - and I recently got very lucky to find a giant springtail that had just moulted!
I don't know if anyone's ever photographed this before!
#SoilEcology#SoilBiodiversity #Collembola #Entomology #Macrophotography #Springtail #Nature #NaturePhotography
Old photo but now with a completely different ID, Ptenothrix renateae, thanks to some kind people on iNaturalist. I read through the 1985 description of this species and am guessing it's the dorsal pattern that gives it away. #springtail #collembola #inaturalist #macro https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8360868
I never knew that a #springtail could have antennae like these! I just saw this little one over on tumbr and I'm amazed. This one is from the genus Temeritas, spotted in Japan.
It looks like a berry with two cat whiskers stuck in it. Amazing creature! #SpringtailSunday
@frankashwood looook!
(pics by pita_gooora, iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155612427)
https://www.tumblr.com/patheticmosasaur1/762498983400701952/todays-invertebratetemeritas
Saw these springtails sheltering under a mushroom. By chance I noticed that they seem to be infected with a fungus as well. Each has a few threads emerging from it- on their backs, heads, and antennae.
I was shown some pics of springtails infected with a different sort of fungus (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200707284)
Also, these springtails were still alive and moving (a bit, slowly). Maybe it's just a funky springtail hairdo?
A close-up of a clump of various mosses on the ground.
The close-up shows that there is a lot to see in the moss.
On the left you can see a grey cup-shaped part (podetium) of a hidden lichen, on the right a round brown fruiting body (apothecium) with a white rim from another hidden lichen.
And have you seen the many small dark springtails in the moss?
Soil invertebrates don't get much cuter than springtails, and springtails don't get much cuter than this!
New Zealand has so many chubby little sproing-angels like this one in the subfamily Pseudachorutinae (which also includes the wonderfully spikey 'giant' springtails), I'm a very lucky macrophotographer to live here!
#NewSpecies!
New springtail from #brazil sprang in:
Pararrhopalites iataganii
Treatment: http://treatment.plazi.org/id/50728799-0C34-4C26-B9C0-6FD4FD26FB6F
Publication: http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5474.3.1
#Zootaxa #PararrhopalitesIataganii
#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #arthropoda #collembola #springtail
I think this is a female of the slender springtail species I showed yesterday, Entomobrya atrocincta, but grateful for corrections. Objects on left are mosquito eggs (Culex?). #springtail #mosquitoes #insects #entomology #arthropod #collembola #diptera #nature #MacroPhotography
I found some mosquito egg rafts to photograph today but was instantly distracted by the springtails. I think this might be a male Entomobrya atrocincta. Found females, too (species is dimorphic). #arthropod #collembola #eggs #diptera #entomology #springtail #mosquitoes #rafting #MacroPhotography
Here's a type of springtail you don't often see, because they're absolutely TINY - only about 0.5 mm big!
The order Neelipleona contains the world's smallest springtail species, which generally live in caves, forest soil and litter. This is Megalothorax incertus, one of New Zealand's only three known Neelidae species!
Lots of #tiny #baby #CommonFrogs emerging from the ponds at #WWTCastleEspie today.
This one was about 1cm long and had a #Springtail on its head!
Many of the cave photos I post here don't seem to be well enjoyed, so screw it, gonna post the cute cave life I find instead of the fancy cave passage photos. My definition of cute may be different than yours, but whatevs.
Enjoy this Pseudosinella hirsutae springtail.