Bugs
Dear Bugman,
From searching on your site I believe the bugs I saw last week on Mt. Tamalpais, here in Marin County are springtails. They were clustered in a band about a foot wide in a circle about 8 feet in diameter. I took a short video clip that shows them springing about. If you can confirm the ID I’d appreciate it. Thank you,
Rick Wachs

Hi Rick,
You are absolutely correct. These are Springtails. We are not sure what family, genus or species however.

What are these?
Taken today (12/29/07) in SE CT in woodsy area on my daughters swingset. A warmer day where all the snow is melting. Picture is taken with 1:1 macro so very small – couldn’t even tell how many legs with the naked eye. There’s thousands and thousands of them on the swingset on the wood, slides, etc. Thought they were ticks at first and was very worried about Lyme’s disease, but they’re not ticks, right? Know what they are and if they’re harmful? Thanks,
Justin Montgomery

Hi Justin,
We have gotten many images of Springtails to our site, and countless letters, but this is the first photo we have received of Globular Springtails in the suborder Symphypleona. They match images on BugGuide of Dicyrtomina ornata. Springtails can be very numerous, and are more of an annoyance than a threat. Springtails are primitive, minute wingless insects. Most species feed on molds, decaying vegetation and fungus. Some species are found on the surface of the snow and are called Snow Fleas.

tiny bug all over bathroom
Hi,
I’ve had this little bug pop up in my bathroom this spring/summer in middle TN. They are very tiny, no more than a 16th of an inch, possibly a little smaller. They tend to crawl around, but have the ability to jump an inch or two quickly across the ground if they think they are threatened (sort of like a flea, but sticking to whatever surface they were on to begin with). In fact I thought they might be fleas at first as they seem to be about the same size, but upon closer inspection, do not move like fleas. I’m pretty sure they are elsewhere in the house, but they show up in the bathroom easiest due to the white floors and walls. I usually see 5 – 10 a night if I look for them, and I’ve found them on the walls as well as the floors and in the tub. Any clue what they are and how to remove them? The photo is a crop taken with a macro lens, to try and get enough detail for identification. Any help will be most appreciated, thanks!
Chris

Hi Chris,
This is a Springtail, a primitive insect that is generally associated with damp places. The species that often infests homes is Willowsia buski. It is found in bathrooms, basements and under kitchen sinks. BugGuide has additional photos, and we would bet that your Springtail stands a very good chance of being Willowsia buski. Nice detailed photo by the way.

What are These Larvae?
Greetings…
Can you please tell me what these are? They appeared overnight, gathered like bubbles in little puddles, on my stone walk after a rain. Are they something that needs immediate attention? There are so many of them! I have cats who like to drink from the puddles, if I let them. Are they a major pest? How can I get rid of them? Thank you,
Dee Press
Camarillo, CA USA

Hi Dee,
These insects are adult Springtails in the order Collembola. Springtails are minute numerous insects that are found in conjunction with moisture. They can get very plentiful. They will not harm your cat.

Very Little Bugs
Hi,
I’m wondering if you could tell me what kind of bug this is. There are quite a few of these little bugs on the concrete in my basement. I have noticed quite a few spiders where I see these bugs. So I have started leaving the spiders. These bugs are very small. The specs around the bug in the picture are the specs in the concrete. Any help on what they are, why I have them, and/or how to control or get rid of them would be great! Oh yea, I live in Dayton Ohio. Thanks,
Brad

Hi Brad,
This is a Springtail. Springtails are minute flightless, primitive insects in the order Collembola. Various species adapt to many types of environments and they are often found in moist areas in large numbers.

Tiny red specks
This winter has been exceptionally warm in the Atlanta, Georgia USA area, so some bugs may be hatching out of season. This morning I looked outside to see my back cement patio covered in what I thought was a fine mist of water…millions of tiny specks. Then I noticed that the rug at the back door had a small red pile on it as if someone had spilled half a bottle of paprika or chili powder….I looked closer to notice that it was moving – these little specks were tiny insects – so tiny that I couldn’t see any legs. They couldn’t have been any bigger than a grain of salt but there were literally millions of them. They were a rusty-red color. Any idea what they were? I didn’t get a picture because I was afraid my dogs would track them into the house so I hosed them off of the back patio immediately. Oh yeah, one more thing I forgot about – the bugs jumped like fleas…maybe they WERE fleas but I’ve never seen any that tiny and have never seen a pile of them like that.
Blaine

Hi Blaine,
The jumping and aggregation leads us to believe you have Springtails.

Thanks for the quick response- today (just a few minutes ago, actually) I went out and looked for them and found just a couple of them crawling around – again, these are so tiny – about the size of a pinhead…maybe smaller. I was able to get some pictures. I had to put a magnifying glass in front of my camera because even my camera’s macro mode wasn’t good enough to get a picture. Do these look like springtails (images attached)?

Hi again Blaine,
This is definitely a photo of a Springtail. .

Tidal bugs
Hello,
This summer I was on vacation on the island of Vinalhaven off the coast of Maine. While exploring the wonderful tidal pools there, my family and I discovered little clumps of blue-grey bugs who would utilize the surface tension of the water and hang out on top of it. They would move across the surface of the water by clutching each other and rearranging themselves. It was certainly not a very efficient or graceful way of moving, but it was mesmerizing to watch! They would occasionally reach the edge of the tidal pool and walk around on the rocks, but they would always end up back in the water again shortly. I could not tell whether they preferred being in the water or were just very clumsy. I’m guessing that they are either larvae or nymphs of something–but beyond that, I have no idea! Any thoughts on what these charming little creatures could be? Thank you,
Julia

Hi Julia,
We were struck by the resemblance of your unknown (to us) creatures to a type of Springtail known as the Snow Flea, a primitive insect. We googled “Springtail, marine” and were lead to a fascinating description of a surface dwelling species named Anurida maritima. Typing that into the search engine lead us to a positive identification of your creature on a UK website that states: “Anurida maritima is abundant and primarily limited to the upper intertidal zone. It can be found in large clusters of 20-100’s wandering over rocks in search of food or floating on the surface film of upper shore rock pools (only when the water is still). This species retreats into rocky crevices, or shelters under weeds during high tide: retreating one hour before the tide begins to rise.” We then found a reference on a Maine website that translates the scientific name as “wingless one who goes to sea.”

Unknown bug everywhere
I hope you can help me figure out what is the name of this bug. I’m worried because they’ve suddenly appeared in different parts of my house. I started out seeing them on the first floor, by the stairs coming up from the finished basement. Now I’m also seeing them upstairs on the second floor, on the ceiling of the loft and on pieces of paper on my computer desk. They’ve also been seen on the floor along the wall in the kitchen. They’re not very big, ranging from extremely tiny to small. I had to use the macro lens on my camera to get a decent picture. One picture is of one that I found on a sheet of paper on my desk that I killed. The other two were of another one walking along the loft ceiling. The two bugs look a little different but the antenna look the same. The dead one has the long things coming out of the tail end, which reminded me of a silverfish, but the live one did not. They also kind of smear like a silverfish if you kill them. Please help! I’m worried that they might be damaging the house or something. They’ve just started appearing in the last month or so.
Dave B, in Virginia

Hi Dave,
This is one of the over 2000 species of Springtail in the order Collembola. Most species, though a nuisance when they get plentiful, are benign, feeding on mold, decaying vegetation and algae. Algae feeders are often found in pools. Though they aren’t harmful, they might be symptomatic of a mold problem.

These springtails were in a water dish in my hermit crab tank. They maybe still in the larva stage and thought you’d enjoy the image.
Regards,
Wade Fulp

Hi Wade,
What a wonderful and artful photograph. We are thrilled to post it.