Little spider looking guys that float on water
February 8, 2010
I have found these guys floating on some standing water around my house. They seem to be mostly on the water, but also around it a little bit. They are quite small, as the one by my finger is one of the biggest ones. They seem to have a slight reddish or yellowish color to them. And they can scoot along the water QUITE speedily. They look like spiders and don’t appear to have wings. Not sure what they are! Can you help please!
-iLan
seattle, wa
Hi iLan,
These are Globular Springtails in the class Collembola and the order Symphypleona. BugGuide has a wonderful series of photos of a species that was identified as Dicyrtomina ornata that is very detailed. Alas, we are unable to identify which species of Globular Springtail you have discovered.
Typo alert: “These are Globular Springtails in the class Collembla…”
Feel free to delete this comment.
Thanks for catching the typo.
We have been experiencing a devastating infestation of springtails/collembola
throughout our home, for more than a year. Even worse, they seem to follow/seek out my roommate specifically and he is constantly putting menthol powder, DE, attractant granuales, among other things, in an attempt to get them off his hands and body. The pests seem to re-produce at a rapid rate, so any
progress made by him and start to appear from his skin in greater numbers when the attempt is made to rid his hands of the. HELP!
He is miserable and can’t sleep well (or at all) most nights and the things are growing larger at a rapid pace. They are neverending!
This sounds like a medical problem that we are not prepared to advise regarding. Perhaps our readers have suggestions or shared experiences.