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Photo#165364
unidentified collembola - Mesopsocus unipunctatus

unidentified collembola - Mesopsocus unipunctatus
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
July 5, 2007
Size: approximately 0.25cm

Images of this individual: tag all
unidentified collembola - Mesopsocus unipunctatus unidentified collembola - Mesopsocus unipunctatus

Moved
Moved from Mesopsocus.

Mesopsocus sp.
What a wonderful find. As Sean, Eric and Jonas have mentioned this is indeed a species of psocoptera, actually a family we don't have in bug guide yet. On the left side of the thorax you can see two very small wing buds. A few months ago I would have call this a nymph but I just realized this one is actually a wingless female (males have big wings). The triangular shape to the head (thanks to the funny eyes) and the facial markings place this into the Genus Mesopsocus; Family Mesopsocidae.

There are two species Mesopsocus in North America that have these wingless females. The most common one is M. unipunctatus found from coast to coast in Canada and down into the states as well. The other species is introduced from Europe and is only found in Nova Scotia and Coast B.C., M. immunis. In Prince George you could get either and without seeing the underside of the abdomen I can't say what species you have here. That said a spot for this should certainly be made in the Psocoptera section.

Too big...
Wow! These photos are amazing! I'm jealous!
Now, I don't think this is a springtail (I's awfully large especially for a globular springtail). It's eyes are also too well developed. Springtails have eyes, but you can literally count the lenses on your hands. It's probably a bark louse of some kind (Psocoptera).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psocoptera

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