Spingless spingtails! - Neanura muscorum

Neanura muscorum Family Neanuridae

Hi Jim. This is a springtail without a spring loaded tail... Indeed, as Chuck said, not all springtails have such a jumping device. So, the common name springtails is misleading. The scientific name Collembola is correct, however. All Collembola have a device, called the ventral tube or collophore, which was orginally believed to function as a device used by Collembola to glue themselves at surfaces they walk on. Coll-embola = glue-stick. But this is another story...
Neanura is a typical Collembola that lost its jumping organ in due time of its evolution. Ne-an-ura means new-without-tail. Most but not all springtails that lack a furca are organised in the family Neanuridae.

… Frans Janssens, 12 July, 2006 - 6:30am

Super! All the way to species :-)

I'll have to re-label them "Yes Springtails" ;-)

… Jim McClarin, 12 July, 2006 - 12:22pm

Probably Springtails

Not all springtails have furculae, and some furculae are small and hard to see when retracted.

… Chuck Entz, 6 June, 2006 - 7:58am

How can I get rid of springta

How can I get rid of springtails in a bathroom? I have cleaned and cleaned my two upstairs bathrooms and spray them with bleach. The springtails temporarily disappear and then come back, they can even survive being sprayed with bleach. Do I have to get an exterminator. Why are they in the second floor? Where can they be coming from?

… maryleen, 8 September, 2009 - 2:53am

Springtails have to eat.

They must be dining on your house. My guess is they are feeding and multiplying on moist, rotting wood. You may have leaking from your tub/shower, bathroom sink, or toilet. There could also be a problem with rain water getting into your wall around your bathroom window. IOW you may need the services of a carpenter to fix a problem far worse than springtails, which may be only a symptom of a rot problem.

… Jim McClarin, 8 September, 2009 - 7:34am

they almost appear to be fire

they almost appear to be firefly larva, although fireflie young tend to have some blackish and orange striping.

… Robert, 11 June, 2006 - 7:58pm

They do a little,

but they most resemble snowf*leas that are lacking a furcula.

… Jim McClarin, 11 June, 2006 - 9:41pm

Thanks, Chuck.

I know next to nothing about sprin*gtails, although as I search for tinier and tinier be*etles I have occasion to observe them in ever greater number and variety. Let's see if anyone else has a comment before I do anything rash -- like move them :-)

… Jim McClarin, 6 June, 2006 - 6:55pm

I'm missing something here

What's the purpose of the * as in spr*ingtails and in sno*w fl*eas?

… A.W. Thomas, 6 June, 2006 - 6:21am

He uses those to keep the Search feature from finding those keywords. If someone were looking for those bugs, they wouldn't have to wade through extra images that aren't what they're looking for. I don't do it myself, because they detract from the readability and confuse people. Also, it makes my internal spell-checker twitch... :)

… Chuck Entz, 6 June, 2006 - 7:47am