Tiny wingless wasp? -  Windham, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, USA December 2, 2006 Size: about 1.1 mm
Found sifting shreaded moss samples. (See methods below.) At first I thought this was a tiny a*nt, but when it jumped as I tried to collect it I thought perhaps it was an oddly-shaped spr*ingtail species. When I first saw it under magnification I changed my mind again: This had to be one of the tiny wingless fli*es that Tom Murray recently posted. Further examination caused me to switch to it being a tiny apterous wasp. (Maybe I'm still wrong :-)
I think this is my best image as it begins to show eye granulation on a 1mm insect. Notice also the fine bristles arising at right angles to the abdominal tip.
Methods
In shameless imitation of Tom Murray, I did a rough sifting of hand-shredded moss with a big-mesh sieve over a white plastic bucket. I discarded what remained in the sieve, inspected the material in the bucket for larger arthropods (mil*lipedes, woodl*ice, ground be*etles, assorted lar*vae, and larger s*piders and centiped*es), then dumped it into a medium-mesh sieve and sifted again into the bucket and watched for movement. Many arthropods will freeze motion to avoid detection but most will resume activity after a minute or two. Although I think it may be too rough on springtails, I used an aspirator to suck the tiny arthropods I spotted along with the debris in their immediate vicinity through a rubber surgical tube and into a clear plastic vial. I transferred them frequently from the vial to a larger, moister, lidded container.
Images of this individual: tag all
Contributed by Jim McClarin on 3 December, 2006 - 9:09am Last updated 30 October, 2009 - 7:16pm |