# Experimenting with detritivores



## Ponerinecat (Sep 19, 2020)

So last year I started keeping springtails, alongside their other detritivore peers. Success was low except among a few select species, which introduced me to just how challenging some springtails can be. Particularly, globular springtails. I've wanted to keep these for 2 years now, and with large populations under wood in winter I thought I'd give it a try. None of the species collected lasted more than a week. The poduromorphs collected fared just as poorly, with the notable exception of Neanura muscorum(not very surprising considering how widespread this tramp is.) Entomobryomophs were the easiest to raise, and I got considerable success with Entomobrya unostrigata until the population collapsed in the summer. Despite being the "easiest" group, many species like the wild Isotoma sp, Entomobrya atrocincta, undescribed Siera sp, and Tomocerus sp did poorly. After noticing that the springtails in my other animal enclosures actually did better than the ones in their own isolated cultures (the most notable example being a small blue Lepidocyrtus sp, there were thousands with all my other invertebrates) I decided to mix all my compatible springtails when I got the chance. It's cooling down now, and some of the local springtails are surfacing, so I thought I'd give this a try. Using a 13" by 7" container, I filled roughly 5/6 of it with a layer of plaster and the other empty portion with soil. This was dotted with assorted dead mosses, grass cuttings, wood pieces, and bits of leaves. So far it's looking good and I'm not seeing any obvious decline in any of the current species. So far I have cyphoderidae sp, Entomobrya unostrigata, Entomobrya atrocincta, Lepidocyrtus sp, undescribed Siera sp, hypogastruridae sp, onychiuridae sp, Neanura muscorum, and 2-3 more collembolans I haven't bothered identifying yet. Also included are symphylans and diplurans as well as  oribatid mites and 2-3 other mite species which I also havent identified yet. I'll add more as they begin to apear and will likely make 1-2 more boxes with different layouts for different habitats. For example species that live in decaying wood or entirely subterranean conditions will mostly need different setups.

Only glob I've seen this year, not bothering with these yet.



Oribatid mite. These are common under rocks and logs.



Entomobrya atrocincta. A gorgeous sexually dimorphic species. Males are orange, females striped.





Tiny pink hypogastrurid springtails. Never had much luck with these despite being very common.



A cyphoderid springtail next to a small symphylan. Symphylans get pretty big for soil fauna.



A trio of diplurans. Two are missing cerci from rough collection.



Stunning red and white mites. Very fast runners, these are normally found under wood so I'm not certain how well they'll do in here. I have seen them occasionally under rocks though so might as well try it until I start a wood bin.

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## Ponerinecat (Sep 19, 2020)

The familiar "tropical springtail." Still not sure what these actually are.
With a couple of beetle mites.



Watching over a small Lepidocyrtus.



Undescribed Siera, or as I like to call them, zebra springtails.





Onychiuridae and a beetle mite.



The setup itself. The soil portion is smaller than it appears, as it slopes towards the plaster to provide varied depth. the sides of the plaster are sealed off with silicone to prevent larger springtails getting trapped and squished.

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## schmiggle (Sep 19, 2020)

Huh, always thought of springtails as straightforward. This is very interesting. For what it's worth, springtails are major consumers of fungi, so maybe that's part of what's missing. Not sure how that would affect your keeping methods, but maybe worth a shot.


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## Ponerinecat (Sep 19, 2020)

schmiggle said:


> Huh, always thought of springtails as straightforward. This is very interesting. For what it's worth, springtails are major consumers of fungi, so maybe that's part of what's missing. Not sure how that would affect your keeping methods, but maybe worth a shot.


It depends on the species, heh. Most wood dwelling species will graze on microscopic spores, while many pudorumorphs will eat slime molds (some exclusively eat slime molds!) Other than that soil hyphae is a pretty staple food and many springtails will feed on mold. Lepidocrytus in particular love fungus, they can skeletonize entire mushrooms in a week or so. I wont be providing too much fungus directly, however, to avoid explosions of harmful molds. It's ruined cultures in the past. You can see how the 2 chunks of fish food I added have started growing stringy fungus, I find that Onychiuridae in particular love that. There's also plenty of hyphae starting to grow in the soil as I don't sterilize the majority of my substrate.

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## Hisserdude (Sep 19, 2020)

I've reared one species of small, white globular springtail with little issue, they did best in enclosures with rotting wood, and when kept moist did pretty well and thrived in a lot of my enclosures... But then predatory mites found their way into my collection, and while they didn't wipe out the tropical pinks or small silvers in my collection, they absolutely destroyed and decimated my globular springtails...


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## Ponerinecat (Sep 20, 2020)

Hisserdude said:


> I've reared one species of small, white globular springtail with little issue, they did best in enclosures with rotting wood, and when kept moist did pretty well and thrived in a lot of my enclosures... But then predatory mites found their way into my collection, and while they didn't wipe out the tropical pinks or small silvers in my collection, they absolutely destroyed and decimated my globular springtails...


Interesting. I've had small watermelon like bourletiellidae pop up in my isolated Seira culture, which in the wild live in grassy/mossy habitats. They pretty quickly vanished though. I've heard of other people raising globs as well, but generally accidentally in terrariums or sealed terrariums. I'll have to try them again.


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## Ponerinecat (Sep 20, 2020)

Isotoma viridris, these can actually be plant pests if I remember.



And Neanura muscorum.

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## Arthroverts (Sep 20, 2020)

Interesting project! Following along to see how it turns out...

I can attest to globulars being very difficult to raise, a friend caught some for me and from the few days he caught them to the time I received them they had disappeared completely.

Thanks for sharing,

Arthroverts


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## Ponerinecat (Sep 21, 2020)

So, a correction. The green springtail previously showcased is not Isotoma viridris, nor Isotoma at all. Isotoma would look more like this, which is actually Isotomurus, but close enough.



Unknown purple entomobryan.



Entomobrya atrocincta female and undescribed Seira sp. 13.

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## pannaking22 (Sep 22, 2020)

Have you been posting your pics to BugGuide? There's a pretty good springtail guy on there.

Interesting they're doing so well on straight plaster as well. I'd talked with a friend that worked with springtails a while back and he said he mixed his plaster with a bit of powdered charcoal to help deactivate any toxins that might be in the plaster.


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## Ponerinecat (Sep 22, 2020)

pannaking22 said:


> Have you been posting your pics to BugGuide? There's a pretty good springtail guy on there.
> 
> Interesting they're doing so well on straight plaster as well. I'd talked with a friend that worked with springtails a while back and he said he mixed his plaster with a bit of powdered charcoal to help deactivate any toxins that might be in the plaster.


There is a bit of charcoal mixed in with the substrate on one end, perhaps that helps? I use straight plaster mixed with a bit of substrate but no charcoal for all my ant setups, and the springtails in those seem to do fine.

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## Ponerinecat (Sep 26, 2020)

Seeing some decent population growth among the onychiuridae and Lepidocyrtus, but it's nothing special considering how hardy these 2 are.
Added a new species, this unidentified one that resembles a faded, pale Seira sp 13.



A pink hypogastrurid, flipped over. Hoping to see growth on these as past attempts have failed and they're quite attractive.



A pocket of onychiuridae, with a small greenish hypogastrurid among them. Surprisingly these seem to prefer living on the plaster rather than in the soil, despite normally being subterranean. They seem to hide in the moss and under large debris until it cools then, then they all come out and eat anything left on the surface. You can see how a few of them have red tinged guts from the fish pellets I give them. Theres also brown guts, which I presume to be organic material, and yellow, which I think is yeast.



Close up on the green hypogastrurid.

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## Ponerinecat (Sep 28, 2020)

While not actually an invertebrate, I'll also be documenting any attempts I make at culturing slime molds. This is because many springtails will gladly eat all sorts of slime molds, and a large number of poduromorphs will eat nothing but slime molds. There has also been a recent study that shows how poduromorphs that were previously unculturable in captivity were able to live healthily and reproduce when provided with slime molds as part of their diet. So far I haven't tried anything yet, as a bit more research is needed on my part. Heres some wild slime molds found under my springtail "traps."

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## Ajohnson5263 (Sep 28, 2020)

from what I've gathered slime mold is difficult to keep long term when it's not in a sterile environment. which is a shame really, I would have loved a slime mold terrarium.


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## Ponerinecat (Sep 28, 2020)

Mmm, I can imagine. May just order a kit online if the wild ones don't work.


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 5, 2020)

The setup seems to be working really well! I'm seeing a huge increase in all the hardiest species and no real decrease in the more sensitive ones.




Also collected a different species of onychiuridae, perhaps the genus Onychiurus itself. I'm debating making a separate marshy setup for these as thats the habitat they were found in.

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## The Snark (Oct 5, 2020)

@Ponerinecat I'd be tempted to send you some samples of the detritus in our local forests except they would get fumigated.


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## schmiggle (Oct 5, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> The setup seems to be working really well! I'm seeing a huge increase in all the hardiest species and no real decrease in the more sensitive ones.


I feel like I'd be concerned that the hardy species would outcompete the sensitive ones. Maybe not. I guess you could try isolating the sensitive ones in an otherwise identical environment, but I'm sure that would be very difficult.

Also, forgot to mention about slime molds--those are beautiful! As a kid I always thought slime molds were rare and kind of "curiosities," but when I learned what to look for I found out they were ubiquitous. It's neat that you're growing them, I think they're really cool.

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## Ponerinecat (Oct 6, 2020)

schmiggle said:


> I feel like I'd be concerned that the hardy species would outcompete the sensitive ones. Maybe not. I guess you could try isolating the sensitive ones in an otherwise identical environment, but I'm sure that would be very difficult.
> 
> Also, forgot to mention about slime molds--those are beautiful! As a kid I always thought slime molds were rare and kind of "curiosities," but when I learned what to look for I found out they were ubiquitous. It's neat that you're growing them, I think they're really cool.


Yes, I've considered that possibility. So far it looks fine but I do have extra containers and plaster in case it does happen. Separation shouldn't be too hard, as I don't need to collect every individual of that suppressed species and I use a padded aspirator for collection and handling of all my small arthropods, which is quite precise. As for the slime molds, I still haven't found any large, easily cultured wild species so I may not be growing them for a while and consequently won't be trying any large poduromorphs until I do.


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 6, 2020)

The Snark said:


> @Ponerinecat I'd be tempted to send you some samples of the detritus in our local forests except they would get fumigated.


Oh man, I'd love to see some soil fauna from a different location, even within my own state. Simply traveling up a nearby mountain already yields an entirely new group of springtails and the likes, some of them quite stunning in color.


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## The Snark (Oct 6, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Oh man, I'd love to see some soil fauna from a different location, even within my own state.


You owe it to yourself to check out some tropical forests - rainforests. Bio-activity diversity is so extreme even within an area of a few hundred feet.
I've got one favorite trip. At the bottom of the mountain, dense jungle of deciduous forest, 5 miles away and almost 3000 feet higher it's pine forest.


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 6, 2020)

Ha ha, I'd love that. Locations on my list are mainly around Indonesia and Australia, like NZ and NC (17 mm springtails! Whats not to love.) but pretty much every area on the globe has really cool and unique native fauna.


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## schmiggle (Oct 6, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> As for the slime molds, I still haven't found any large, easily cultured wild species so I may not be growing them for a while and consequently won't be trying any large poduromorphs until I do.


You're probably aware, but just in case--a lot of large slime molds look like fungus fruiting bodies. They can be very common, and I think they're under-researched ecologically. I see Lycogala, Enteridium, and Stemonitis pretty regularly (Lycogala most commonly). That's not to say they're easy to culture, but I also can't imagine that something like Lycogala, which I've seen on wood in my parents' lawn, is so picky that culture is impossible.


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## 0001 (Oct 6, 2020)

Wow those slime molds look very nice!
I know nothing about springtails so this is fascinating to me. I saw one white springtail on the spaghnum moss of my carnivorous palnt mini bog but it jumped away too fast for me to catch it.

I did see a youtube video a while ago that reccomended keeping springtails on damp charcoal. Is that for a specific species or would it work for most hardier types?

how did you make/setup your containers?


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 6, 2020)

0001 said:


> Wow those slime molds look very nice!
> I know nothing about springtails so this is fascinating to me. I saw one white springtail on the spaghnum moss of my carnivorous palnt mini bog but it jumped away too fast for me to catch it.
> 
> I did see a youtube video a while ago that reccomended keeping springtails on damp charcoal. Is that for a specific species or would it work for most hardier types?
> ...


I originally tried those charcoal containers when I first started but it only seems to work very well for the species commonly sold online (Folsomia candida, Sinella curviseta.) None of the other springtails collected locally even bred, and some of them hated the excess moisture and just sat on the highest possible point the entire time. I make my containers by pouring a layer of thick plaster into them and then shaping it into a shelf with my hands.


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 6, 2020)

schmiggle said:


> You're probably aware, but just in case--a lot of large slime molds look like fungus fruiting bodies. They can be very common, and I think they're under-researched ecologically. I see Lycogala, Enteridium, and Stemonitis pretty regularly (Lycogala most commonly). That's not to say they're easy to culture, but I also can't imagine that something like Lycogala, which I've seen on wood in my parents' lawn, is so picky that culture is impossible.


Yeah, I don't see those too often here. Stuff that looks likes a film is more common, or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places.


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## schmiggle (Oct 6, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Yeah, I don't see those too often here. Stuff that looks likes a film is more common, or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places.


Am I correct in assuming that EDH is El Dorado Hills? I would expect that you'd find the slime molds with large fruiting bodies after a rain, which in your case means waiting a couple months. They're known to exist in Jasper Ridge biological preserve, so I'd be surprised if you don't have them.


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## 0001 (Oct 7, 2020)

How do you provide moisture in the setup and how often?
If I want to collect my own springtails in the area (we have a few small grassy parks nearby) how would I go about that? Would collecting a few handfulls of dirt do?


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 7, 2020)

schmiggle said:


> Am I correct in assuming that EDH is El Dorado Hills? I would expect that you'd find the slime molds with large fruiting bodies after a rain, which in your case means waiting a couple months. They're known to exist in Jasper Ridge biological preserve, so I'd be surprised if you don't have them.


Yep, El Dorado Hills. I'll keep a look out, waiting for the first rains anyways as they bring out other life as well.

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## Ponerinecat (Oct 7, 2020)

0001 said:


> How do you provide moisture in the setup and how often?
> If I want to collect my own springtails in the area (we have a few small grassy parks nearby) how would I go about that? Would collecting a few handfulls of dirt do?


Moisture is just provided through mistings, which is not very often as the container condensates most of it's evaporated moisture on a convex lid and then drops it back down. As for collection I actually tend to use an insect aspirator. You can get one and a few collection vials on sites like bioquip or amazon. They're very handy for easily collecting very small animals without hurting them, and I use mine for a lot of taxa. If you're going to collect springtails, also make sure to pad the bottom of the vial with slightly damp paper as cushioning. You can find springtails most anywhere, I collect them by going out on a search in the neighborhood and checking anything that catches the eye. Stones, planks, logs, leaf litter, etc. I've found springtails in the most unexpected places, like out on the sidewalk, in flowers, or on walnuts in the middle of the road. You can also set "traps" by laying down flat rocks or rotted planks/posts on top of dirt and regularly watering them to keep them moist. Just check every week or so and you'll get some interesting stuff, not only springtails. You could also sample some dirt from a particularly fertile area. This will almost always get you a few species of springtails if the dirt is damp and full of organic material, but for many others targeted collection is one of the only ways.

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## schmiggle (Oct 7, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Yep, El Dorado Hills. I'll keep a look out, waiting for the first rains anyways as they bring out other life as well.


Good luck! I've only ever found Stemonitis on fallen logs without bark and Enteridium on standing, mostly intact-looking trees. Lycogala is very un-picky, but tends to grow on logs with a diameter of at least 5 or 6 inches.


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 8, 2020)

It should be "breeding like Lepidocyrtus" instead of "breeding like rabbits".

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## Ponerinecat (Oct 13, 2020)

A second Isotomurus species, darker, smaller, and stubbier. These are very hard to photograph as they die easily during collection and are constantly jumping once disturbed.





And some snout mites. these are actually predatory, nice looking little balls.

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## schmiggle (Oct 13, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> A second Isotomurus species, darker, smaller, and stubbier. These are very hard to photograph as they die easily during collection and are constantly jumping once disturbed.
> View attachment 362864
> 
> View attachment 362863
> ...


You're not afraid of the snout mites eating your springtails?


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 13, 2020)

schmiggle said:


> You're not afraid of the snout mites eating your springtails?


Honestly, considering how fast the springtails I have rn breed, no. They'll just be pop control if they can even survive on plaster, ha ha. Predators would be more of a problem with species that are sensitive and hard to keep alive, like any future globs.


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## Bob Lee (Oct 20, 2020)

Gonna throw in my two cents... I have a specie of springtail I colelcted with my termites, they seem to thrive on wood along and are the only surviving creatures on my pile of wood from the forest. I find them to be quite good at doing spingtail things like eating mold and garbage.
I also keep surinam roaches which are just great at eating larger pieces of organic matter, they seem to eat almost anything even the cardboards I throw in as hide, they don't seem too interested in boiled beef though.


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 20, 2020)

Bob Lee said:


> Gonna throw in my two cents... I have a specie of springtail I colelcted with my termites, they seem to thrive on wood along and are the only surviving creatures on my pile of wood from the forest. I find them to be quite good at doing spingtail things like eating mold and garbage.
> I also keep surinam roaches which are just great at eating larger pieces of organic matter, they seem to eat almost anything even the cardboards I throw in as hide, they don't seem too interested in boiled beef though.


Ah, that sounds like cyphoderidae or Lepidocyrtus. Those are often found with ants and termites.


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 20, 2020)

Entomobrya unostrigata showing off that distinctive cross pattern.



Sinella curviseta doing their thing.

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## schmiggle (Oct 21, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Entomobrya unostrigata showing off that distinctive cross pattern.


But the other species in that picture is so much prettier! Elegant and cute. Probably hard to ID though lol


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 21, 2020)

schmiggle said:


> But the other species in that picture is so much prettier! Elegant and cute. Probably hard to ID though lol


Which one? The 2 greys are both unostrigata, white is Sinella curviseta, small bluish ones are Lepidocyrtus.


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## schmiggle (Oct 21, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Which one? The 2 greys are both unostrigata, white is Sinella curviseta, small bluish ones are Lepidocyrtus.


Guess I meant the Sinella


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## XxSpiderQueenxX (Oct 25, 2020)

How do you find the Onychiuridae? I love how they look! the only springtails I find/keep are what you identified as I think the common tropical ones (Sinella something?)


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 25, 2020)

XxSpiderQueenxX said:


> How do you find the Onychiuridae? I love how they look! the only springtails I find/keep are what you identified as I think the common tropical ones (Sinella something?)


I have 2 species of them. The longer, prolific ones are subterranean and can easily be found in moist soil. They can be hard to spot at first as they curl up into balls and stay still when disturbed. The second pudgier species was found under half submerged rocks on the edge of a local (manmade?) pond. Rancid mud is surprisingly diverse! Speaking of Onychiuridae, my group of the second species have died out. I'll try a different setup the nest time I can collect some. On a different note, heres some cute velvet mites that came in on the liverwort I collected. Didn't know we even had them here.

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## schmiggle (Oct 25, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> On a different note, heres some cute velvet mites that came in on the liverwort I collected. Didn't know we even had them here


Beautiful! I think velvet mites are cosmopolitan (maybe not in desert or tundra). When I knew what to look for I started seeing them all over the place.


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## Ponerinecat (Oct 26, 2020)

schmiggle said:


> Beautiful! I think velvet mites are cosmopolitan (maybe not in desert or tundra). When I knew what to look for I started seeing them all over the place.


South Californian deserts are home to Dinothrombidium, so they can live in very dry places. Heres another species I found yesterday, a single individual under a log next to some Brachycibe producta. Surprising that they've already started to come out without rain, perhaps the fog we got wettened the soil sufficiently.

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## Kazeres (Nov 3, 2020)

So interesting thread!! I had a tiny colony of oribatids in my isopods bin but I didnt know what kind of mites was. 

I have three or more species of springtails living along my isopods, but I dont know what specie are. 

I found ball like springtails living on water surface of my tanks of fish.


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 3, 2020)

Kazeres said:


> So interesting thread!! I had a tiny colony of oribatids in my isopods bin but I didnt know what kind of mites was.
> 
> I have three or more species of springtails living along my isopods, but I dont know what specie are.
> 
> I found ball like springtails living on water surface of my tanks of fish.


Ball like springtails are globulars of some sort, if you're in Europe then Sminthruides seems like a likely genus.

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## Kazeres (Nov 4, 2020)

What cam or microscope do you use to make photos of springtail??


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 4, 2020)

Kazeres said:


> What cam or microscope do you use to make photos of springtail??


I use a nikkon d3300 with a nikkor af 18-55mm kit lens. Far from ideal and I have to crop the actual photos a ton(which is why they're so grainy) but an actual macro lens is out of my budget range.

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## Ponerinecat (Nov 4, 2020)

Now that I've established a populous mixed culture, I'll try a few isolated cultures, as that will make it much easier to sell these when I find the time to do that.

Some Entomobrya unostrigata in their box, they may be a relatively bland springtail but I do enjoy how their color can range from a clay like orange to a greenish grey. They're also one of the largest entomobryomorphs here and the largest I currently have in culture, size is always a plus with springtails.

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## Kazeres (Nov 5, 2020)

How easy breed simphylams and diplurans???


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 5, 2020)

Kazeres said:


> How easy breed simphylams and diplurans???


Symphylans are really easy, they can actually be kept in a conventional charcoal tub if you get rid of the stagnant water and instead just have moist charcoal. Diplurans I haven't had much success with, but they should be relatively simple as well. Both feed on decaying plant matter, unless you have japygid diplurans which are predatory.

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## Ponerinecat (Nov 5, 2020)

Check out this tiny glob I found under my trap. Not sure if it's a juvenile or just a really small species, either way it goes in with my Isotomurus.

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## schmiggle (Nov 5, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Check out this tiny glob I found under my trap. Not sure if it's a juvenile or just a really small species, either way it goes in with my Isotomurus.
> View attachment 365061
> 
> View attachment 365062
> ...


I love it! It's like something out of a Ghibli film.


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 6, 2020)

Lotta stuff today, so much so I have to make 2 individual posts to accomodate for it. Found a lot more of those tiny white globs, which I've identified as an arrhopalitidae sp.





Here's the tiniest springtail I've ever seen, a newly hatched glob. I'll admit I didn't see this guy until I started editing my photos.



Some long legged Eupodidae, I caught 2 individual interacting on camera. Social behavior or merely inspection?







Odd white disc shaped mites, no idea what these are.





Orb like reddish mites, probably an oribatid.



An elongated eupodoidea.

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## Ponerinecat (Nov 6, 2020)

Some purplish silver entomobridae.





Second Dicyrtomidae of the year!





With an Isotomurus.



With an arrhopalitidae.



And perhaps my favorite find, an adorable little female Myrmecophilus cricket.





These are all going in with my Isotomurus, I'll get a mixed culture going and then separate them into species specific ones.

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## Arthroverts (Nov 6, 2020)

@Ponerinecat, your fascination with micro species is inspiring. Can you go become a collembologist and microarachnologist or something  ?

Thanks,

Arthroverts


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 6, 2020)

Arthroverts said:


> @Ponerinecat, your fascination with micro species is inspiring. Can you go become a collembologist and microarachnologist or something  ?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Arthroverts


Haha, I'd love to. Planning on having some field of biology regarding small arthropods be my college education, although I'm not certain of which one yet. Entomology is my go to for now, specifically myrmecology.


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## schmiggle (Nov 6, 2020)

Daddy long leg mites..huh.

The globs are adorable, as usual. Hope you have better luck with them this time.

Be a collembologist, ants are so 1995.


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## XxSpiderQueenxX (Nov 7, 2020)

I have these in my isopod culture as well! they like to roam on the wood and congregate inside condensation droplets.

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## Ponerinecat (Nov 8, 2020)

Went and set a trap for subterranean springtails. Didn't see much during the dig, but heres a newborn neanurid and a pauropod, the third pauropod I've seen this year.





Kinda want to culture some pauropods, but they're a very rare find and I know nothing about what they need. They look like little centipedes mixed with Caecidotea isopods.

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## scolopendra277 (Nov 11, 2020)

how do you make the springtail traps?


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 11, 2020)

scolopendra277 said:


> how do you make the springtail traps?


They're more of lures than actual traps. I create an environment that attracts springtails outside. For example, a large group of rotten planks works well when kept constantly moist. Or if you want subterranean springtails, you can bury layers of cardboard a foot or so underground and water the spot.

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## scolopendra277 (Nov 11, 2020)

then you just scoop them into a container?


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## schmiggle (Nov 11, 2020)

How deep have you found springtails? Do they vary a lot with depth?


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 11, 2020)

scolopendra277 said:


> then you just scoop them into a container?


I use an aspirator, scooping isn't a very reliable collection method and you miss/kill a lot of the smaller or faster ones.


schmiggle said:


> How deep have you found springtails? Do they vary a lot with depth?


They do. I've only dug down around a foot and 1/4 before, but there were still plenty of springtails under the rocks I found. However springtails are known as the deepest living land animal, with Plutomurus ortobalaganensis being found at 6500 feet below the surface and collected with cheese baits.

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## schmiggle (Nov 11, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> They do. I've only dug down around a foot and 1/4 before, but there were still plenty of springtails under the rocks I found. However springtails are known as the deepest living land animal, with Plutomurus ortobalaganensis being found at 6500 feet below the surface and collected with cheese baits.


I recently found a survey of bacterial diversity with depth that I think went almost all the way down to the bedrock. Someone should do this with springtails and other meiofauna.


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 11, 2020)

schmiggle said:


> I recently found a survey of bacterial diversity with depth that I think went almost all the way down to the bedrock. Someone should do this with springtails and other meiofauna.


Bacteria tend to live everywhere though, not sure there would be much diversity at that depth. Complex life thins out dramatically down there.


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## schmiggle (Nov 11, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Bacteria tend to live everywhere though, not sure there would be much diversity at that depth. Complex life thins out dramatically down there.


True, although you'd be surprised (esp. when it comes to nematodes, fungi, protists, etc.). Bacterial diversity thins out too, but I'd be more interested in the entire gradient, where it thins out, how much biomass at a given depth, etc.


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 15, 2020)

Found a very large hypogastrurid springtail under a rock, still a juvenile. I've seen these before, and they're one of the larger springtails here. Will try to collect some more.

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## paumotu (Nov 15, 2020)

How long do you wait until checking a springtail trap?


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 16, 2020)

orchidloveXTM said:


> How long do you wait until checking a springtail trap?


It really all depends on the season and age of the trap. A well established trap like the boards I've been managing for 2 years now can be checked once or twice every week. Meanwhile the one I just created for subterranean springtails may take a month or more to become productive enough to dig up. You pretty much won't get a thing in the dry season (if you have one) regardless of how much you water your traps, and in the wet season you don't even need a trap; any pile of leaves or chunk of wood in the wild will do.

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## Ponerinecat (Nov 16, 2020)

The entomobrya unostrigata have started laying eggs en masse, which means a pure plaster culture can do well, at least in the short term. Lotta mites on there as well but they don't seem to be harmful so I'll leave them be.



And I believe the dicyrtominae have bred? Could also be that any juveniles I collected have grown a bit, but even that's pretty good considering my past experiences with these. Sadly the arrhopalitidae have been reduced in population due to a small mold outbreak, but I cleaned that up and theres still a few left, so hopefully they can recover.



The adult dicyrtominae are gorgeous. You can't see it here, but the markings are dark purple instead of black. The color of the rest of the body is highly variable among this species as well.

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## Ponerinecat (Nov 25, 2020)

Collected some poduromorphs from under wood today.

A very pudgy Neanura muscorum.



Juvenile giant neanuridae, not sure what genus.



A small pseudachorutinae, next to a dicyrtominae juvenile (hopefully the result of captive breeding!)

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## Ponerinecat (Nov 26, 2020)

Picked up some Tomocerus, some of the largest entomobryomorphs here. They're surprisingly easy to kill, and even weirder, the larger they are the easier they die.

A dead adult, you can see the pronged furca extended. These guys are hard to collect as they constantly flop around until they find shelter when disturbed. Took some time for me to learn how to track their movements.



A descaled adult (quite a few entomobryomorphs have scales.) The actual body surface is usually cream yellow to golden in color.

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## schmiggle (Nov 26, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> larger they are the easier they die.


Do these like it cool? I know with plants that often the larger ones die first if heat stress is the culprit. Not sure if this is related. I have some theories about why that happens, but no really good ones :/


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 27, 2020)

schmiggle said:


> Do these like it cool? I know with plants that often the larger ones die first if heat stress is the culprit. Not sure if this is related. I have some theories about why that happens, but no really good ones :/


I'm not sure. They definitely prefer cooler temperatures though so that could definitely be it.


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 29, 2020)

Entomobrya unostrigata eggs are hatching. You can actually see the eyes in mature eggs, which I find adorable.





Isotomurus have also bred, but the adults have died off a bit.



Basically 100% certain the dicyrtominae have bred as well, some of these juveniles are too small to have been collected.



Also some odd globs with very large eyes, not sure if these are just small dicyrtominae or a different species/genus. They have shorter antennae and a "Y" shaped pattern as well.

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## XxSpiderQueenxX (Nov 29, 2020)

How do you make your plaster setups?


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 29, 2020)

Pour a th


XxSpiderQueenxX said:


> How do you make your plaster setups?


Pour a thin, watery layer of plaster/water mix into the bottom of a somewhat deep container and let it cure. Thats it.

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## XxSpiderQueenxX (Nov 29, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Pour a th
> 
> Pour a thin, watery layer of plaster/water mix into the bottom of a somewhat deep container and let it cure. Thats it.


Oh, so the springtails live directly on the plaster? is there any need for substrate like leaf mulch or anything?


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## schmiggle (Nov 29, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Entomobrya unostrigata eggs are hatching. You can actually see the eyes in mature eggs, which I find adorable.
> View attachment 367457
> 
> View attachment 367456
> ...


Lovely as always, and glad to see these are all breeding for you, particularly the globs  Are you doing anything special with them?

I'm guessing the Dicyrtominae with bigger eyes are a different species, though I don't know enough to really say. Couldn't they be a totally different family?


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## Ponerinecat (Nov 29, 2020)

XxSpiderQueenxX said:


> Oh, so the springtails live directly on the plaster? is there any need for substrate like leaf mulch or anything?


For the majority of species, no.


schmiggle said:


> Lovely as always, and glad to see these are all breeding for you, particularly the globs  Are you doing anything special with them?
> 
> I'm guessing the Dicyrtominae with bigger eyes are a different species, though I don't know enough to really say. Couldn't they be a totally different family?


They probably are. I never said they were dicyrtominae, but I guess I threw the 2 around enough to get confusing  Main way to tell would be hairs on the back, dicyrtominae have a big ol tuft of long hairs near the top of the rear. But these are too small for my camera too pick up the hairs.

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## Snailientologist (Dec 3, 2020)

On several instances I've seen some strange little blue-gray springtails hiding in the ridges of bark on living trees. Any idea what they might be? I was really shocked to see them because it hadn't occurred to me they could be arboreal.


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## Ponerinecat (Dec 4, 2020)

Snailientologist said:


> On several instances I've seen some strange little blue-gray springtails hiding in the ridges of bark on living trees. Any idea what they might be? I was really shocked to see them because it hadn't occurred to me they could be arboreal.


That could be any one of three orders, so no, I'm drawing a blank. Arboreal springtails are surprisingly common, but I've only ever seen Entomobrya atrocincta aboveground, feeding on flower pollen.

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## Ponerinecat (Dec 4, 2020)

Found a couple "nurseries" of giant neanurids under stones, about ten juveniles each tightly packed into a round chamber. 3 adults and some more juvies were found nearby, giving me a total of 26.










Exhibiting the "nursery" behavior in captivity.

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## Ponerinecat (Dec 5, 2020)

Collected some sub .6 mm neelipleona springtails, the smallest order of springtails in both number and size.

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## Ponerinecat (Dec 10, 2020)

Gorgeous metallic deep blue lepidocyrtinae.






Sminthurinus elegans, a beautiful melon like glob that appears to feed on plants. Because of that I've put the few I collected in a small container with live grass.






Also collected several booklice species, because why not. They make great clean ups for arid setups.

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## Kazeres (Dec 11, 2020)

Booklices look like to springtail. Perhaps convergent evolution??


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## Ponerinecat (Dec 11, 2020)

Kazeres said:


> Booklices look like to springtail. Perhaps convergent evolution??


They're both small detritivores that live in tiny places, like gaps in rotting wood, soil crevices, or under bark, so I would imagine it is convergent evolution to an extent. Definitely a milder example of it though.

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## Ponerinecat (Dec 17, 2020)

A very small native entomobrya species, was only able to collect 5-6. They're quite pretty, hope I can get more.

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## Ponerinecat (Dec 18, 2020)

I was able to get 4 more of those native Entomobrya, but the highlight of today was the discovery of a huge patch of Seria sp 13. They were congregating underneath a rock, with mats of them forming on small spiderwebs. The cold weather seems to draw a lot of small inverts to congregate on concealed spider webs, I also saw a group of 14 or so snout mites on a patch of web. Not sure why they do that, but it's a good thing to look for when hunting in cold weather. Ended up collecting at least a thousand of them, which I put into my Entomobrya unostrigata bin. Will definitely be marking the spot for future visits. Strangely they seem to like elevation and form clusters at the container rim.

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## Ponerinecat (Dec 23, 2020)

Went bush beating for spiders, and instead I got a ton of arboreal globs! They've been tentatively IDed as Ptenothrix beta, I'd imagine they could do well on a bonsai tree. Might have to try that.









Heres a view of the furca, which is the jumping organ.

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## schmiggle (Dec 24, 2020)

Ponerinecat said:


> Went bush beating for spiders, and instead I got a ton of arboreal globs! They've been tentatively IDed as Ptenothrix beta, I'd imagine they could do well on a bonsai tree. Might have to try that.
> 
> View attachment 369919
> 
> ...


Didn't know there were arboreal springtails. Figured they'd dry out too easily.


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## Ponerinecat (Dec 27, 2020)

The Morulina have been doing pretty badly, I collected 2 more adults/subadults and moved them all to a new container. I put some wood and Brachycibe fungus in the container this time, hopefully they can utilize that. In the meantime heres some more microscope pictures.

Unidentified poduromorph, with a vestigial furca that doesn't serve any function.





Dorsal view of an Entomorbya sp, revealing the reflective scales that are visible to the naked eye only as black bands.





An extraordinarily hairy globular.

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## Ponerinecat (Jan 6, 2021)

I've decided that these purple globs are a separate species, as I can't find any coloration overlap between them and the other wood dwelling globs. I'm also getting conflicting IDs on the variable dicyrtomidae, with some being labeled as Dicyrtomina and others as Ptenothrix. The one here was Ided as Ptenothrix. Either it's one of the 2 or I have 2 lookalike genera.

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## KaelKeepsAnts (Jan 7, 2021)

I want a glob. Where can I find a glob?


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## Ponerinecat (Jan 7, 2021)

Under moist wood and rocks are my main spots.


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## KaelKeepsAnts (Jan 8, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> Under moist wood and rocks are my main spots.


Well if that's the case then I'm not sure they live here. I feel like I would've found one by now if they did.


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## Ponerinecat (Jan 9, 2021)

I can guarantee that you do, it's likely you just arent seeing them. Heres an arrhopalitidae next to a Reticulitermes host, most globulars are about the size of that termite's head capsule.

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## Vermis (Jan 11, 2021)

Excellent showcase. The diversity and variety of springtails from just one area surprises me. I really like those watermelon globs!



Ponerinecat said:


> I use a nikkon d3300 with a nikkor af 18-55mm kit lens. Far from ideal and I have to crop the actual photos a ton(which is why they're so grainy) but an actual macro lens is out of my budget range.


I can't believe my first two posts after three years are about these things, but...









						Photography Hack: Macro Photography With Extension Tubes
					

Extension tubes can be a great alternative to macro lenses if you enjoy macro photography. But how does the quality compare when shooting these close up images?




					www.karltayloreducation.com
				




I have a set of Nanoha tubes for my Lumix GX80. Like the article says, they don't match up to a dedicated macro lens, but you can get some decent results, futzing about on a budget.


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## Ponerinecat (Jan 11, 2021)

Vermis said:


> Excellent showcase. The diversity and variety of springtails from just one area surprises me. I really like those watermelon globs!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, I've definitely been considering extension tubes or maybe a reversal ring. never got around to actually getting one though.


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## andy1997 (Jan 13, 2021)

Hello, sorry to post this in your thread, but you seem very knowledgeable. Any idea what the creature at 0:12 seconds is? I'm used to seeing springtails in my water dishes, but I don't think I've ever seen these before. Thanks in advance.

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## Ponerinecat (Jan 13, 2021)

That's a mite, probably something in eupopidae.

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## Ponerinecat (Jan 15, 2021)

Created some new setups for my arid species, ground up some bricks and charcoal to make a paste that turns into a hardened dirt like surface when dried. The inherent humidity of plaster setups seemed to be inhibiting the Seria sp 13, Entomobrya unostrigata, atrocincta, and other dry lovers. Also cut some holes in the lid and covered them with wire mesh to improve circulation.









The Morulina aren't breeding, but the population has stabilized in their new setup. I haven't had any deaths since the move. Also collected even more, oddly enough my Morulina now outnumber the Neanura. Haven't been able to find too many of the latter despite being very common before.

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## Kazeres (Jan 16, 2021)

Amazing pics of morulina!


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## schmiggle (Jan 16, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> Haven't been able to find too many of the latter despite being very common before.


Maybe seasonally abundant, dormant as eggs or similar?


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## Ponerinecat (Jan 16, 2021)

schmiggle said:


> Maybe seasonally abundant, dormant as eggs or similar?


That is the case, but this should be the season in which they are abundant. I found a few more in leaf litter today, so maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.

Found some cool looking yellowish Isotomurus, which I havent seen before.







Also found some black Sminthruinus elegans, the species is dimorphic but I'm not sure why.
Usual watermelon coloration,





And the 4 spotted black coloration.

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## JustHereToLookAtInverts (Feb 1, 2021)

Beautiful little pudgy poduromorphs! I’ve been hunting for them for years! Do you have any tips on how you keep and collect them?


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## Ponerinecat (Feb 2, 2021)

JustHereToLookAtInverts said:


> Beautiful little pudgy poduromorphs! I’ve been hunting for them for years! Do you have any tips on how you keep and collect them?


They're found in quite a lot of places, depending on the species rotten wood, fungi, flat rocks, and leaf litter are the most productive. Rotten wood and fungi seem to provide the highest diversity of larger species while smaller species can be sifted out by the thousands from leaf litter. As for keeping a plaster bottomed dish seems to work the best, and they often need natural organic material to survive such as bits of rotten wood, fungus, and slime mold.


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## JustHereToLookAtInverts (Feb 2, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> They're found in quite a lot of places, depending on the species rotten wood, fungi, flat rocks, and leaf litter are the most productive. Rotten wood and fungi seem to provide the highest diversity of larger species while smaller species can be sifted out by the thousands from leaf litter. As for keeping a plaster bottomed dish seems to work the best, and they often need natural organic material to survive such as bits of rotten wood, fungus, and slime mold.


Wow! thanks for the info! I'll be sure to do that then


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## Ponerinecat (Feb 2, 2021)

Past month or so has been a period of trial and error. Oddly enough, the new arid setups I made work very poorly for arid species but globulars actually seem to do better in them. The Seira sp 13 have basically gone extinct and the remaining survivors are scattered throughout the other cultures. The Entomobrya unostrigata have also been suffering and I moved them back to a plaster dish. The purple globulars have been breeding quite well, and I got my first pictures of globular eggs. They're laid singly and randomly.







The purple-silver Entomobrya sp. have been doing quite well from the very start, I just never covered them as their growth was so slow. But it's steady, and stability is all I need right now. Heres a juvenile and an egg, which are also laid singly and sporadically like the globs.









I also finally managed to collect a decent amount of Neanura muscorum via leaf litter sifting. The Morulina have still not bred, but the juveniles have grown quite a bit. I'm starting to think these guys have annual breeding periods and will grow very very slowly. The adults are quite long lived as well.

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## Ponerinecat (Feb 7, 2021)

Well now I know why the Morulina are not breeding. They're only half grown. This is a true adult, with a body length of 7 mm, 8 if you count the antennae. My second largest species only has a body length of 4 excluding the antennae.





Also collected my first undamaged slime mold, which was placed directly into the enclosure.

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## pannaking22 (Feb 8, 2021)

Wow, 7mm for a collembolan is impressive!

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## schmiggle (Feb 8, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> Also collected my first undamaged slime mold, which was placed directly into the enclosure.


I was waiting for this! Hope it does well.


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## natureman494 (Feb 8, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> Gorgeous metallic deep blue lepidocyrtinae.
> 
> View attachment 368546
> 
> ...


I like that I'm not the only one who is keeping booklice! thats quite a nice color on yours. did you find it in the wild? also what do you keep yours on? i just do white flour and a little square of cardboard.


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## Ponerinecat (Feb 8, 2021)

natureman494 said:


> I like that I'm not the only one who is keeping booklice! thats quite a nice color on yours. did you find it in the wild? also what do you keep yours on? i just do white flour and a little square of cardboard.


All of these species were collected by sifting dry leaf litter. I usually use a mix of wood chips and crushed leaves for my cultures, but unfortunately I haven't really gotten that into booklice yet.


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## natureman494 (Feb 8, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> All of these species were collected by sifting dry leaf litter. I usually use a mix of wood chips and crushed leaves for my cultures, but unfortunately I haven't really gotten that into booklice yet.


they can be quite hard to culture, I've only managed to culture the common pest variety, I want to try more in the genus Liposcelis.

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## Ponerinecat (Feb 28, 2021)

The day has come! Morulina laid 5-6 clumps of large, brownish eggs. Pretty excited about this.





Got this photo of a molting individual, very similar to hemipteran molting.





The slime mold grew very quickly after a period of dormancy, but has unfortunately faded out completely. Examination of the plaster reveals lots of little yellow spore like structures, so it might grow back when conditions are right. Also moved the onychiuridae to a brick setup.

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## Ponerinecat (Mar 9, 2021)

Discovered populations of a couple new species for me. There's this odd, relatively large bluish entomobryidae I find under debris on bare sections of mud.





This gorgeous little species of Entomobrya, E. griseoolivata, which I found living among cracks in a crumbling rock face.. The smallest Entomobrya I've seen, unless all I have are juveniles. Quite variable in coloration too. Hopefully these do well.







And as a bonus, I found an odd looking E. atrocincta male in the same spot. I've never seen one with a central stripe like this, reminds me of unostrigata patterning.

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## Ponerinecat (Apr 12, 2021)

Morulina eggs finally hatched after 2 months. I now have a somewhat complete idea of their life cycle. Eggs hatch after 2 months, and the resulting juveniles take a full year to reach sexual maturity. Adults will mate once or maybe twice at most, and max lifespan might be around 1.5 years. I'll have to see how long these newborns can live to be sure though.
Empty eggshells.





Newborns.







In the same container, Neanura muscoru have also started popping up after disappearing for a month or so.





Unfortunately all my attempts with larger globulars have resulted in failure despite initial reproduction, but on the bright side the Arrhopalitidae have been steadily growing.
Among some hitchhiked Lepidocyrtus and Ceratophysella.





Fully grown adults have this gorgeous red speckling which is invisible without magnification.

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## schmiggle (Apr 12, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> Morulina eggs finally hatched after 2 months. I now have a somewhat complete idea of their life cycle. Eggs hatch after 2 months, and the resulting juveniles take a full year to reach sexual maturity. Adults will mate once or maybe twice at most, and max lifespan might be around 1.5 years. I'll have to see how long these newborns can live to be sure though.
> Empty eggshells.
> 
> View attachment 381561
> ...


I was wondering what was happening with this. Glad at least some of your globs worked out, and the morulina are as adorable as ever. Did you ever find that slime mold? I'm in CA now, and I think I'm just past the ideal season.


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## Arthroverts (Apr 12, 2021)

Where in CA are you @schmiggle?

Thanks,

Arthroverts


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## Ponerinecat (Apr 13, 2021)

schmiggle said:


> I was wondering what was happening with this. Glad at least some of your globs worked out, and the morulina are as adorable as ever. Did you ever find that slime mold? I'm in CA now, and I think I'm just past the ideal season.


I did find a slime mold, and it probably remains dormant in the Morulina enclosure. Havent seen any new growths and the slime mold itself is hard to find but traces and what appear to be spores are still there.

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## Ponerinecat (Apr 29, 2021)

Willowsia buski, new species for me. Experimenting on these with a new corkboard setup I made.





Bourletiella arvalis, an arboreal glob.





B. jaunitae, also arboreal.





B. hortensis, arboreal in this instance but also known to be ground dwelling.





Cool find but not too interesting in terms of cultivability.

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## schmiggle (May 2, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> Willowsia buski, new species for me. Experimenting on these with a new corkboard setup I made.
> 
> View attachment 383265
> 
> ...


Didn't know there are exclusively arboreal springtails--fascinating! How did you collect them?


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## Ponerinecat (May 2, 2021)

schmiggle said:


> Didn't know there are exclusively arboreal springtails--fascinating! How did you collect them?


Beating is the only reliable method I've found for live specimens, although I suppose if you just want a complete record of what's living on the bush/tree you could try fogging on a miniature level.


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## Edan bandoot (May 4, 2021)

What resource do you use to identify the springtails, I keep two native sp with "limited" success but I've no idea what they are.


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## Ponerinecat (May 4, 2021)

Edan bandoot said:


> What resource do you use to identify the springtails, I keep two native sp with "limited" success but I've no idea what they are.


Collembola.org, found here, is a great resource for checking species in your area and even provides a multitude of keys. Outside of checking yourself, you can also upload photos onto bugguide (provided they're from Northern America) which can help immensely. BHL provides access to a large amount of papers if you're into that, but you must be wary of synonymous names and identification requires checking an up to date description.

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## Ponerinecat (Jun 13, 2021)

Took a trip up to the mountains and saw some pretty neat springtails. I unfortunately won't be culturing any of these mainly because I did not collect them, and even if I did I wouldn't have very many of each species.
A beautiful blood red species of glob. I've only seen these once before, 2 individuals under a rock. This time it was a lone springtail. Pictures are rather bad as it escaped before I could contain it.





A very large entomobryomorph, reminiscent of an elongated E. atrocincta. Somewhat common if you find the right place, as I have seen tens of individuals under a group of rocks before. Only saw two this time. Perhaps one of the longer Seira species?







Some smaller purple entomobryomorphs common on downed logs. Not sure if these are the same species as my local purple, but they look different.







A weird little entomobryomorph, probably a species of Entomobrya? Quite a pretty patterning on this individual.





This one I recognize. Appears to be the still unidentified mottled species I find around the house.





Also saw some Tomocerus and Entomobrya unostrigata. I really do have to sample this place more thoroughly, so far I've only been along one set of trails.

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## schmiggle (Jun 13, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> Took a trip up to the mountains and saw some pretty neat springtails. I unfortunately won't be culturing any of these mainly because I did not collect them, and even if I did I wouldn't have very many of each species.
> A beautiful blood red species of glob. I've only seen these once before, 2 individuals under a rock. This time it was a lone springtail. Pictures are rather bad as it escaped before I could contain it.
> 
> View attachment 388094
> ...


Which mountains?


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## Ponerinecat (Jun 13, 2021)

The trails surrounding Jenkinson Lake, these springtails were all found on a trail bordering Sly Park Creek. Saw some really interesting arthropods there.


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## Edan bandoot (Aug 11, 2021)

@Ponerinecat I found these on the inside of an anthill, do you think they're springtails? I'm pretty bad with microfauna, although to me they look identical.

One specimen in the bottom right and one in the top left. I'm thinking maybe they're globs?


Also have you tried keeping those tiny white centipede looking things? Looking online the closest I can find to them is the order Rhabdura. I'll post pics of them too if I can find some in my yard.

Edit: after perusing your previous postings, I might be reffering to symphyla with the centipede looking things.

Also seems that my springtails most resemble your cyphoderid springtail


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## Ponerinecat (Aug 12, 2021)

Edan bandoot said:


> @Ponerinecat I found these on the inside of an anthill, do you think they're springtails? I'm pretty bad with microfauna, although to me they look identical.
> 
> One specimen in the bottom right and one in the top left. I'm thinking maybe they're globs?
> View attachment 395163
> ...


I think these are Cyphoderus similis? although that would be a very hesitant guess. And yes, I have kept symphylans. Not much success so far (for some reason my early culture on charcoal seemed to do better than my current one, may have to experiment with that) but they are still alive and did reproduce once.

More of a general update as I haven't touched this in a while, everything has mostly been going downhill. Had an outbreak of mesostigmata leaked from a container of millipedes and they devastated almost all of my cultures. As of right now I have no overly successful cultures besides the springtails living with my Brackenridgia, and even my previously most prolific species are just barely dragging along. Sadly the prized Morulina have all died, my Arrhopalitidae have crashed, and even the Sinella curviseta aren't reproducing and are down to maybe 30 individuals. I'll admit I've been a tad neglectful of late as well due to the sudden drop in chances of success. May take a while to get everything going again, but I have high hopes for the next time it rains.

Reactions: Like 1 | Sad 2 | Optimistic 1


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## Edan bandoot (Aug 13, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> I think these are Cyphoderus similis? although that would be a very hesitant guess. And yes, I have kept symphylans. Not much success so far (for some reason my early culture on charcoal seemed to do better than my current one, may have to experiment with that) but they are still alive and did reproduce once.
> 
> More of a general update as I haven't touched this in a while, everything has mostly been going downhill. Had an outbreak of mesostigmata leaked from a container of millipedes and they devastated almost all of my cultures. As of right now I have no overly successful cultures besides the springtails living with my Brackenridgia, and even my previously most prolific species are just barely dragging along. Sadly the prized Morulina have all died, my Arrhopalitidae have crashed, and even the Sinella curviseta aren't reproducing and are down to maybe 30 individuals. I'll admit I've been a tad neglectful of late as well due to the sudden drop in chances of success. May take a while to get everything going again, but I have high hopes for the next time it rains.


The Cyphodera have survived so far on charcoal.

But after collecting one of the "symphylans" from the wild they turned out to be Rhabdura!



They're pretty interesting to watch, any luck keeping these lads?

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## Hisserdude (Aug 13, 2021)

Edan bandoot said:


> The Cyphodera have survived so far on charcoal.
> 
> But after collecting one of the "symphylans" from the wild they turned out to be Rhabdura!
> 
> ...


I've got a couple that I'm trying to culture, so far they seem to be doing well, though I don't know what they are feeding on, either the rotten wood, mold, springtails or chick feed I throw in there every few days. I keep them very humid and in a completely dark place, since they seem quite photsensitive. Don't know if I have a pair or not, so I might not breed them, but they at least seem to be living perfectly fine after a couple months.

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## Hisserdude (Aug 13, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> I also finally managed to collect a decent amount of Neanura muscorum via leaf litter sifting. The Morulina have still not bred, but the juveniles have grown quite a bit. I'm starting to think these guys have annual breeding periods and will grow very very slowly. The adults are quite long lived as well.
> 
> View attachment 374345


Wow, those _Morulina_ are so cool looking! :O How easy have they been to culture so far, other than their slow development? Any specific food or substrate requirements?


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## Hisserdude (Aug 13, 2021)

On the topic of odd springs, I am currently breeding these _Tomocerus minor_ (ID'd by Frans Janssens). Despite these being one of the smallest of the genus, they are HUGE compared to any other springs I've seen in person, about 4mms long! They are breeding slowly but steadily for me, have not tried using them as cleaner crews just yet. First colony got infested with _Sinella curviseta_, so I had to start a new one from scratch.

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## Edan bandoot (Aug 13, 2021)

Hisserdude said:


> On the topic of odd springs, I am currently breeding these _Tomocerus minor_ (ID'd by Frans Janssens). Despite these being one of the smallest of the genus, they are HUGE compared to any other springs I've seen in person! They are breeding slowly but steadily for me, have not tried using them as cleaner crews just yet. First colony got infested with _Sinella curviseta_, so I had to start a new one from scratch.


I kept a singular individual of a species that looked exactly like this that i collected from leaf litter.
It didnt appear to be parthenogenic, as i kept it alive for 4 months without any eggs or babies.
(it was kept on charcoal btw)


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## Hisserdude (Aug 13, 2021)

Edan bandoot said:


> I kept a singular individual of a species that looked exactly like this that i collected from leaf litter.
> It didnt appear to be parthenogenic, as i kept it alive for 4 months without any eggs or babies.
> (it was kept on charcoal btw)


Yeah I don't think Tomocerus are parthenogenetic sadly, that'd be cool. Hopefully you can find more of them, I've only found this species in very humid habitats. I keep mine on a substrate of old, partially eaten flake soil, and top that off with bark and chunks of rotten wood.


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## Ponerinecat (Aug 13, 2021)

Hisserdude said:


> Wow, those _Morulina_ are so cool looking! :O How easy have they been to culture so far, other than their slow development? Any specific food or substrate requirements?


I'm not sure what they eat actually, but something in the bin was edible. Maybe it was the yeast I sprinkled in but there were other species cohabiting with the Morulina that may have been eating it. Substrate was plaster with wood sprinkled on top but that didn't seem to work so well, will have to experiment with other stuff next time.


Hisserdude said:


> On the topic of odd springs, I am currently breeding these _Tomocerus minor_ (ID'd by Frans Janssens). Despite these being one of the smallest of the genus, they are HUGE compared to any other springs I've seen in person, about 4mms long! They are breeding slowly but steadily for me, have not tried using them as cleaner crews just yet. First colony got infested with _Sinella curviseta_, so I had to start a new one from scratch.


How do you keep them? My Tomocerus never do well, always suspected it was too hot for them.


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## Ponerinecat (Aug 13, 2021)

Edan bandoot said:


> The Cyphodera have survived so far on charcoal.
> 
> But after collecting one of the "symphylans" from the wild they turned out to be Rhabdura!
> They're pretty interesting to watch, any luck keeping these lads?


I do have some diplurans in with my symphylans, they're growing unnaturally slowly so I could be doing better but they're reproducing faster than the symphylans. I think I'll add some sterilized grass cuttings to replace the sphagnum they have right now, which should encourage growth. Will probably do that with certain springtails as well. Starting to realize many springtails may be near impossible to easily raise on bare substrate.


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## Hisserdude (Aug 13, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> I'm not sure what they eat actually, but something in the bin was edible. Maybe it was the yeast I sprinkled in but there were other species cohabiting with the Morulina that may have been eating it. Substrate was plaster with wood sprinkled on top but that didn't seem to work so well, will have to experiment with other stuff next time.


Good to know, sounds like they may just be general scavengers then! Would love to keep some one day, they look so cute, and big too!



Ponerinecat said:


> How do you keep them? My Tomocerus never do well, always suspected it was too hot for them.


I keep mine on a substrate of old, partially eaten flake soil, and top that off with bark and chunks of rotten wood. I'm keeping them at around 70-73F if I had to guess, pretty cool since I found them in cool and humid microhabitats.


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## Ponerinecat (Aug 13, 2021)

Hisserdude said:


> I keep mine on a substrate of old, partially eaten flake soil, and top that off with bark and chunks of rotten wood. I'm keeping them at around 70-73F if I had to guess, pretty cool since I found them in cool and humid microhabitats.


Nice, I'll have to try that. They're not easy to collect alive either, I often accidentally overheat/completely descale them in the collection container, which desiccates them very quickly.


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## Hisserdude (Aug 13, 2021)

Ponerinecat said:


> Nice, I'll have to try that. They're not easy to collect alive either, I often accidentally overheat/completely descale them in the collection container, which desiccates them very quickly.


Yeah the descaling thing is annoying for sure, I've had the best luck just collecting whatever wood I found them in, bringing that back to my house and taking them from the wood there.

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## Ponerinecat (Oct 3, 2021)

Good news for once! I collected a small handful of the undescribed siera species for an experiment, and they actually bred! Reused one of the old brick setups but sprinkled bits of dry grass over the surface and used a lid with good ventilation. They seem to prefer relatively low humidity, as expected, but still require some level of moisture to be retained in the substrate. My past enclosures were either too stuffy or too dry. The juveniles lack the striped appearance of the adult but are a seemingly solid coppery color. Some intermediate stages have a really nice striped pattern that still retains the copper color.

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