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Photo#89151
Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta

Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta
Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA
November 30, 2006
Size: 1.0 - 1.9 mm
I caught several dozen of these colorful globular springtails in one swipe with my clear, plastic 7-day pill sorter over a moist cross member of an unpainted wooden fence. I probably got less than a quarter of those present. Needless to say, there was a whole lot of springing going on in that split second. They must have been holding a convention there.

Here you see them in a floating cluster that gradually formed after I dumped them into a quarter-inch or so of water in the bottom of a clear, plastic deli container. This is now my prefered photography technique for springtails because it quiets them down, permitting plenty of time to focus and shoot without the subjects crawling and leaping around as they would on a solid surface. The water also guarantees that they will not expire from dessication as often happens with springtails during a mixed-species photo shoot.

Images of this individual: tag all
Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta Flotilla of globular springtails - Dicyrtomina minuta Dicyrtomina ornata - Dicyrtomina minuta

A great method
and collection here!

 
Thanks, Ashley.
I expect I'll use it now and then in Ecuador. There must be loads of undescribed springtails there.

Moved
Moved from Dicyrtomina ornata.

New US species?
Pending confirmation, this may be the first record of this species in the US.

Moved

Dicyrtomina ornata
Hi Jim. A nice collection, indeed. These critters become more active when temperature is dropping. So you will see more those ;-)
Family Dicyrtomidae.

 
Ornate indeed!
In sunlight they seemed more opalescent as well. Thank you, Frans.

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