Robbed of that particular opportunity, I went for a general forage and while examining one of the old wooden railway fence posts I noticed these tiny Springtails.
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| Entomobrya multifasciata |
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| Dicyrtomina saundersi |
Using a simple online key to Dutch Springtails, http://www.janvanduinen.nl/sleutel/key.php I have tentatively identified them as Entomobrya multifasciata and the globular springtail Dicyrtomina saundersi, which was on a nearby bramble leaf. They were minute and extremely difficult to photograph, pushing the abilities of my macro set up a little beyond its limits. I find Springails fascinating and there aren't too many of them, so it is possible to identify most of them.
I have the FSC key to Collembola produced by the late Steve Hopkin, but to my shame have rarely used it. They are a fascinating group, and some are easy to identify (e.g. Orchesella cincta). Entomobrya are among the more arboreal springtails, often dropping out of trees onto moth traps and sheets. They seem very fond of wooden picnic benches.
ReplyDeleteI find springtails regularly when I occasionally put pitfall traps out in my garden for beetles. Orchesella cincta has turned up before (that's the large hairy one if I remember right?). They are inmportant little critters as they are a major food source for many larger predators like beetles!
ReplyDeleteTomocerus longicornis is the really big one (curls up its antennae if you blow on it). But yes, Orchesella cincta is also large by springtail standards, and has a distinctive band across the abdomen. Plenty of photos online.
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