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BugGuide Gathering
Pack Forest
Washington State
July 10-12, 2009
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Photo#2655
Springtail

Springtail
Parson's Run, Duluth, Fulton County, Georgia, USA
March 6, 2004
I walked out the front door and discovered hundreds, maybe thousands of these swarming along the stoop. I don't really know where they came from, but they disappeared within a few hours. The background is the stucco of my home.

Springtail
This specimen keys out to Hypogastruridae in Borror, Triplehorn, and Johnson (1) based on the elongate body with 6 abdominal segments, well-developed thorax and dorsal bristles, dark-coloured body, and habitat (ie not on a pond, which would be Poduridae). This resembles the snow flea, Hypogastrura nivicola, based on the behaviour and appearance (see here and here for examples - there are also some neat SEM photos in a pdf here, although the text is in French). However, there are lots of species in this family and genus, and the NCSU collection does not have a specimen from that state - this species is so common where it occurs around here that probably means the species doesn't occur that far south. It could be something else in that genus or perhaps a different genus in the family.

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