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Tag Archives: Dicyrtomina saundersi

321/366 Springtails and slime

16 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in fungi, insects

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Tags

Comatricha nigra, Comatricha slime mould, Dicyrtomina saundersi, fungi on rotting wood, Neanura muscorum, slime, slime mould, springtail, Trichia persimilis, Trichia slime mould

Springtails and slime, a colourful combination, currently to be found on and under many old branches and rotting logs, in a saturated woodland near you, right now!

201116 springtails and slime (1)

The orange slime is probably one of the Trichia species, possibly Trichia persimilis, and the white blobs on black sticks are one of the Comatricha species, perhaps Comatricha nigra.

201116 springtails and slime (2)

And the springtails? The brownish one with the hairy bottom is likely to be Dicyrtomina saundersi, and the blue-grey-coloured ones may be Neanura muscorum, but my photos are not good enough to make positive identifications.

201116 springtails and slime (3)

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Sitting on the fence

06 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British hexapods, British springtails, Collembola, Dicyrtoma fusca, Dicyrtomina saundersi, Entomobrya multifasciata, Hexapod, Pogonognathellus flavescens, springtail

No, it wasn’t me sitting on the lichen on the fence posts. If you have keen eyes, you may have been able to spot a tiny creature in that last image I posted. It was a Springtail – not an insect, but a hexapod and, with around 250 species found in Britain, Springtails form the largest group of hexapods, the Collembola.

190106 unidentified springtails (1)

These creatures are tiny – no more than 6mm long, but extremely abundant. They mostly eat rotting leaves and bacteria so, as well as being found amongst the lichen on fence posts, they can also be discovered, in their millions, in the soil, in compost heaps, in fact anywhere there’s rotting vegetation. According to the Naturespot website, it’s estimated there can be as many as 100,000 Springtails in each cubic metre of top soil. (Some species also eat live plants and so are considered pests by farmers and gardeners.)

190106 pogonognathellus flavescens

Pogonognathellus flavescens

Springtails are so named because they have a tail-like appendage (the furcula) under their abdomen. This ‘tail’ is held in place with a latch, which, when they think they’re in danger, they can simply release to catapult themselves into the air and escape.

190106 dicyrtoma fusca

Dicyrtoma fusca

The Collembola are of two types, the round-ish ones (globular) and long-ish ones (linear), and, as you can see from my photos here, I’ve managed to find some examples of both types.

190106 entomobrya multifasciata

Entomobrya multifasciata

My fascination with these miniscule creatures has only just begun so I shall probably blog about them again when I’ve found a few more species.

190106 dicyrtomina saundersi

Dicyrtomina saundersi

190106 unidentified springtail

 

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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