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Photo#914670
Dust Speck - Bourletiella arvalis

Dust Speck - Bourletiella arvalis
Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum Park, West Friendship, Howard County, Maryland, USA
April 26, 2014
Size: <1mm
I saw these tiny specks here and there during the BioBlitz I participated in recently - on a flower, in the dirt, crawling on my camera's LCD screen. They were so tiny, though, that I didn't even try to get on them in the field, and assumed they were some sort of itty mite. It was much to my delight that I discovered, when i got home, that some had hitched a ride on a flower I'd brought, and I was able to try to photograph them in a controlled environment. I was surprised to find out they were actually tiny springtails, not mites - they are the tiniest I've ever seen.

They are VERY small, and moving, so these photos are the best I could manage. Is it possible to tell what kind they are?

Images of this individual: tag all
Dust Speck - Bourletiella arvalis Dust Speck - Bourletiella arvalis Dust Speck - Bourletiella arvalis Dust Speck - Bourletiella arvalis

Moved

Bourletiella arvalis
Educated guess...

 
Thanks, Frans!
I was wondering if it was the same as that last one you IDed for me, though I thought these were tinier. They definitely didn't come out with the same amount of detail, suggesting they are tinier.

Perhaps I should send you another package soon? :) If I can still find it, I could send you this one and the Hypogastrura, whose feet are so tiny they are difficult to photograph...

 
It could also be...
Deuterosminthurus nonfasciatus. Can you count the number of subsegments of the 4th antennal segment? About 8 in B. arvalis, about 15 in D. nonfasciatus.
Feel free to send me a sample.

 
Well, I took more photos
And I thought they showed the segments well enough, but when I tried to count, I ended up with a number in between: 11

New image is here

 
This number does match with ...
the number of whorls of setae on the 4th antennal segment in Bourletiella arvalis. The basal and apical subsegments are a bit longer than the other and bear each 3 whorls, while the 5 other shorter subsegments each bear one whorl.

 
Cool -
I'll try to get a shot of the antennae, if it will hold still. Thank you!

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