Experimenting with detritivores

[Ponerinecat]

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.

 

[schmiggle]

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


Newborns.

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View attachment 381563


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

View attachment 381560


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.

View attachment 381565


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

View attachment 381564

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.

 

[Arthroverts]

Where in CA are you @schmiggle?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Ponerinecat]

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.

 

[Ponerinecat]

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.

 

[schmiggle]

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

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Bourletiella arvalis, an arboreal glob.

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B. jaunitae, also arboreal.

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

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Cool find but not too interesting in terms of cultivability.

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

 

[Ponerinecat]

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.

 

[Edan bandoot]

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.

 

[Ponerinecat]

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.

 

[Ponerinecat]

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.

 

[schmiggle]

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


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?

View attachment 388092
View attachment 388093


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

View attachment 388090
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A weird little entomobryomorph, probably a species of Entomobrya? Quite a pretty patterning on this individual.

View attachment 388089


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

View attachment 388095


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.

Which mountains?

 

[Ponerinecat]

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

 

[Edan bandoot]

@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

 

[Ponerinecat]

@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
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

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.

 

[Edan bandoot]

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?

 

[Hisserdude]

The Cyphodera have survived so far on charcoal.

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

View attachment 395445
They're pretty interesting to watch, any luck keeping these lads?

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.

 

[Hisserdude]

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?

 

[Hisserdude]

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.

 

[Edan bandoot]

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)

 

[Hisserdude]

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.