springtail - Ptenothrix beta

Moved

Moved from Ptenothrix renateae.

… Ken Wolgemuth, 28 November, 2016 - 3:51pm

Ptenothrix beta

Good point, Joyce!

… Frans Janssens, 28 November, 2016 - 1:34pm

Moved

Moved from Ptenothrix.

… Joyce Gross, 7 December, 2007 - 5:37pm

Ptenothrix cf. renateae

It is indeed the same species as you have posted before. It is a juvenile specimen. The pigmentation is not yet fully developed. But it compares well with that of the other specimens: such as the white 'neck' area, the white 'cross-like' pattern on the anterior part of the dorsum, the bilateral array of dark spots at the posterior part of the dorsum.
That we cannot see the sugsegmentation of the 3rd antennal segment is also due to fact that it is a juvenile specimen in which the subsegmentation is not yet fully developed.
I IDed the species provisionaly at 'cf. renateae' since the pigmentation matches best but not perfect with that of renateae.

… Frans Janssens, 6 December, 2007 - 3:34am

thanks for the additional details

Thanks for educating me (and others) about springtails. Very interesting about the differences between juveniles and adults.

Should I go ahead and move these to a species page? I was going to leave the images at the genus level but I see you have them at the species level on your site.

… Joyce Gross, 6 December, 2007 - 3:38pm

Yes, go ahead

I check and recheck the IDs periodically. If it turns out otherwise, I'll let you know.

… Frans Janssens, 7 December, 2007 - 7:44am

Moved

Moved from Dicyrtomidae.

… Joyce Gross, 6 December, 2007 - 2:49am

Ptenothrix sp.

Yes, Joyce, the family is certainly correct.
I can't make out the "subsegmented apical part of the 3rd antennal segment" on this one either... But I assume it is present. IMHO this has to do with the aperture used. Also the large setae on the 2nd antennal segment are not visible.

… Frans Janssens, 5 December, 2007 - 5:14pm

thanks Frans

I'll have to get more samples of these guys. I took a lot more than two photos of this individual, and in none of them are the subsegments of the 3rd antennal segment clear, whereas they are clear in many of the photos I took of the other individual. There were some differences with my camera settings & amount of magnification, so it could be that.

… Joyce Gross, 6 December, 2007 - 2:55am