Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Order Entomobryomorpha - Elongate-bodied Springtails

Elongate-bodied Springtail - Entomobrya intermedia Elongate-bodied Springtail - Entomobrya intermedia springtail - Orchesella cincta Silver Springtail - Lepidocyrtus Large Springtail - Tomocerus minor Collembola - Tomoceridae? Eggs - Entomobrya unostrigata Spring tail - Entomobrya intermedia
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Collembola (Springtails and allies)
Order Entomobryomorpha (Elongate-bodied Springtails)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Entomobryomorpha Börner, 1913
Numbers
11 families worldwide
Identification
Abdominal segmentation dorsally distinct. Prothoracic dorsal setae absent. Prothoracic tergite indistinct. Trunk always elongate(1).
Poduromorpha typically have short legs and antennae while Entomobryomorpha typically have long legs and antennae. Although there are ofcourse exceptions: Entomobryomorpha adapted to live in the soil also have short legs and antennae. To be sure, check the presence or absence of the 1st thoracic segment in dorsal view. This is sometimes hard to see and will require some practise. In Poduromorpha the segment is present. In Entomobryomorpha it is absent. In other words, in dorsal view, Poduromorpha count 3 thoracic segments, while Entomobryomorpha count only 2 thoracic segments, in dorsal aspect. Ofcourse both have 3 thoracic segments, given they have 3 pairs of legs, but in Entomobryomorpha the dorsal tergite of the 1st thoracic segment is reduced completely. (Comment by Frans Janssens.)