Blue Springtails - Vertagopus arboreus

Moved

… Cheryl Moorehead, 11 November, 2007 - 9:44am

Vertagopus arboreus

Given your recent set of pictures.

… Frans Janssens, 11 November, 2007 - 4:30am

Thanks!

I'm very confident that the ones I found in my yard are the same species as these that I found at the beach. These were in an area that is out of reach of the salt spray, so I don't think the "marine habitat" is a factor.

… Cheryl Moorehead, 11 November, 2007 - 9:42am

Some candidate genera:

1. given the marine habitat: Archisotoma, or Axelsonia, both typically found in littoral areas.
2. given the deep blue colour and body habitus: Desoria
But there are other genera with deep blue species, such as Pseudisotoma.

To distinguish these genera, the first we need is a picture of which the terminal body segments are distibctly in focus to find out whether or not the 5th and 6th abdominal segments are fused.

… Frans Janssens, 5 November, 2007 - 6:41am

Next weekend

I'll go back and hopefully it won't be rainy, like it was on the day I photographed these. They were extremely numerous, so it shouldn't be difficult to get better photos. I forgot to turn the noise reduction off on my new camera, so things were softer than I had planned.

… Cheryl Moorehead, 5 November, 2007 - 8:11am