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Unknown Things are Springtails

Unknown nymphs
Location: Mundlein, IL
January 27, 2012 10:30 pm
Enthusiastic fan, first time posting. I’ve used your archives to help identify insects in the past, but always knew the day would come when I would have to post a photo and ask for help. It seems that day has now arrived.

Springtails

While cleaning a basement in suburban Illinois, I found 8 dead nymphs in the bottom of an empty coffee mug. They appear to have gotten trapped in an early stage of their life cycle – I found two moltings in the mug with them. The nymphs are about 2 mm in length. They are reminiscent of tiny, hairy, wingless mosquitos, with big black antennae resembling spider forelegs. Their actual legs seem smaller and lighter in color than the antennae. The head and thorax are very small, bent perpendicular to the rest of the body, giving the body an ”L”-shaped profile. Half of them have a hairless, white, curling double-tail sprouting out the anus, the other half don’t (sexual dimorphism, or saprophytic fungus?).
The mugs were dry and empty when placed, so it seems unlikely a brood of mosquitos would have been hatched there, or arrived by flying there from some other location (and then unable to fly away). I suspect rather they are some flightless species that hatched in a crack somewhere and dropped down from the shelf above. However, they appear to me as such a Frankenstein collection of stitched-together parts from different creatures, I haven’t been able to classify them any narrower than Order Insecta. If these are indeed a brood of nymphs, what do you think the parents might look like? (And are they still out there, lurking in my basement?)
I tried to take photos with a macro lens and through a microscope, but the camera seems to have its own ideas about lighting no matter what I do. Through the microscope, I can clearly see the head, eyes, antennae, thorax, hair, legs, and erstwhile twin tails – if there are wings, I can’t discern them.
Please help – I’ve been showing off bug-identifying skills with which your site has empowered me, this has me stumped and a certain rep may be at stake
Thanks in advance!
Signature: A. P.

Springtail

Dear A.P.,
We are so sorry we are unable to provide you with instant gratification. We are not even sure how to classify these Things. Hopefully we will have some luck with research, or perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide us with some assistance.

Springtail

Update: Two different readers commented that these are Springtails, and it seems so obvious now we feel silly for not being able to provide an identification. This image from our archive is a perfect match. Springtails are benign creatures that are sometimes considered a nuisance if they are plentiful.

¶ Posted 29 January 2012 § ‡ Comments (5) °

Springtail

HELP. IM SCARED.
Location: NYC
January 21, 2012 11:14 am
Please Help bug man you have the best database on ID-ing bugs so please help me. first of all i will explane. i had these bugs come in my bath room on a piece of luggage. it was in a friends house and gave it to me. i washed it off and 2 days later i have these creepy crawlers in my tub. so my location is NYC its january and automatically i think the worst. its a bed bug. but i really need you to tell me that it is not a bed bug. they have only stayed in the tub area. thank god but in concerned that i need to do something dramatic. they really dont look like bed bugs to me but im no expert. there really really tiny. and when you just lightly push them they disappear gone. no sign of them on your finger or on the tub. now i only have seen about 7 at a time. they are fast crawlers. they dont fly but i hope they are springtails. as they like the bath room. they are really tiny. so that leads me to think that there the baby version of whatever they are. please let me know what they are im loosing sleep over this. thanks do much bug man. ps to give you a hint how small they are the blue line is a line on a piece of paper.
Signature: Rich

Springtail

Hi Rich,
Your hope that this is a Springtail is correct. Springtails are benign creatures, though they can become a nuisance in homes where there is a damp environment to sustain them, like the bathroom. It is possible that they were introduced on the luggage as you speculated, especially if the luggage was stored in a damp location first.

I like This

¶ Posted 23 January 2012 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Globular Springtail

Would like to identify
Location: Upton, MA, USA
December 22, 2011 10:40 am
I have found thousands of these tiny insects outside in my ducks’ water dish. Brought a sample in and took a pic with my digital microscope. Thanks in advance!
Signature: Regards…Beth Towne

Globular Springtail

Hi Beth,
This is a Globular Springtail, possibly Dicyrtomina minuta which is pictured on BugGuide and listed as: “Very common in the UK. Probably an introduced species” in North America. Springtails are beneficial primitive insects that help break down organic material into humus, however, they can become a nuisance if they become too plentiful. They need damp conditions to survive.

Globular Springtail

I like This

¶ Posted 22 December 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Springtails, most likely

just a question.
Location: Wichita, KS. USA
December 17, 2011 8:07 am
I have been having hundreds or maybe thousands of tiny tiny bugs coming in the micro-cracks in my basement windows. They all die within about a day or so. They are too small to get a good photo. In fact they are so small It’s hard to make out what they are. but they keep gathering at the base of my basement windows and dieing.
Would you mind if I put some of the dead ones in a zip-lock bag and mailed them to you to identify?
Signature: IDK

Springtails

Dear IDK,
We believe these are Springtails. Most likely, they are dying due to the low humidity indoors. Springtails are benign creatures that can become an annoyance when they are plentiful. They feed on mold and fungus and other organic matter and they are instrumental in breaking down organic matter to form humus in soil.

I like This

¶ Posted 18 December 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Springtails we believe

What is this bug???
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
November 16, 2011 4:52 pm
These tiny black bugs appeared outside of our garage door today. They are black and wingless. About the size of a pin. I have no clue what they are. Can you please help?
Signature: Hailey

Springtails

Hi Hailey,
Your photo does not allow us to make out details of an individual insect, but we are nearly positive these are Springtails in the class Collembola. Springtails are benign insects, though they may become a nuisance in certain situations when they are plentiful. Springtails feed on decomposing vegetation and they are important because they break down organic matter which contributes to the production of humus in soil. They can be very plentiful in a compost pile where they are beneficial. You can read more about Springtails in our archives as well as on BugGuide.

I like This

¶ Posted 19 November 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Globular Springtail in Hawaii

Tiny Purple Spotted Bug – Hawaii
Location: Koolau Mountain Range, O’ahu, Hawaii
October 26, 2011 12:17 am
Picture taken Saturday, July 16, 2011 9am
Went hiking one morning with a friend. I wanted to take some nice pics of the moss growing on the moist cliffs. Set my camera to macro mode and got as close as I could. And to my surprise this cute little guy walks into view! Any idea what it’s called? Thanks!
Signature: BK

Globular Springtail

Dear BK,
This appears to be a Globular Springtail, and it looks very much like a species represented on BugGuide, Dicyrtomina ornata. We are not certain if it is a related species or the same species. According to BugGuide, it is “Very common in the UK. Probably an introduced species” in North America where it has been reported in the Pacific Northwest and the areas around New York.

¶ Posted 26 October 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Springtails from Australia

What’s this bug
Location: Subtropical Australia
September 4, 2011 1:49 am
This tiny bug (about 1mm long) appears in the thousands in my worm farm. Do you know what it is?
Signature: Many thanks, Julia

Springtails

Hi Julia,
You have Springtails, and according to BugGuide: “Springtails are ‘decomposers’ that thrive mostly on decaying organic matter, especially vegetable matter. They may also graze on spores of molds and mildews, especially indoors where there is a lack of other food sources.” As such, they are beneficial creatures. BugGuide also provides this interesting bit of information: “Springtails are probably the most abundant hexapods on Earth, with up to 250 million individuals per acre.”

Springtails

Many thanks, Daniel – I’ve been wondering about them for years! Good to know they’re beneficial!
Best regards,
Julia

Certain Springtails, like the species that live on top of swimming pools, can be a nuisance if they are really plentiful.

¶ Posted 04 September 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: WTB? Down Under

Springtails in Tanzania

Tiny detritovores
Location: Amani Nature Reserve, Northeast Tanzania
May 26, 2011 8:56 am
These little guys have taken over the forest floor in the last week or two. It’s about two months into the rainy season here, and these tiny white insects have appeared all over the forest floor. They’re almost exclusively on dead plant matter (leaves, logs, dead tree trunks), and it is difficult to convey just how many of these things are out there. I would say that there are several for every dead leaf in the forest. In some areas I don’t see any, in most areas they’re around, and on some leaves or logs they reach remarkable densities.
Signature: Phil

Springtails

Hi Phil,
You sure know how to catch our attention with a subject line. These are Springtails, generally considered the most numerous hexapods on the planet. They are important because they help break down organic matter into humus.

Springtails