Om nom nom!
Globular springtails are like gorgeous tiny cows, plodding around on decaying wood and grazing fungi. They're one of my favourite soil animals to photograph, and New Zealand has some of the best in the world!
#SoilBiodiversity #SoilEcology #SpringtailSaturday #Collembola #Macrophotography
Do you love #SpringtailSaturday, but feel it's always over too soon?
Dry your eyes, my friend.
They said it couldn't be done.
They said that dedicating more than one day a week to springtails was impossible, merely the arrogant pipe-dream of a madman.
But, guess what?
It's #SpringtailSunday.
#SpringtailSaturday: Currently on every leaf you can find little golden-yellow globular springtails (family Bourletiellidae) milling about and dancing. It's just as cute and magical as it sounds.
#bugstodon #springtails #Collembola #Symphypleona #Bourletiellidae #macro
Let's start the weekend off the right way, which of course means by observing #SpringtailSaturday!
This springtail (Lepidocyrtus moorei) is super common in the forested areas of the Port Hills near Christchurch.
The name 'Lepidocyrtus' stems from the Greek 'lepis' meaning 'scale' and 'kyrtos' meaning 'convex' - in reference to the thousands of beautiful iridescent scales which cover the animal's body!
#Macrophotography #SoilBiodiversity #SoilEcology #Entomology
Ever feel like someone's walking all over you?
It seems there's little camaraderie between springtails, as this scaled Lepidocyrtus species crawls over its giant Holacanthella cousin's head!
#SoilBiodiversity #SoilEcology #Macrophotography #SpringtailSaturday
You know how sometimes you can't go to sleep at night, because your mind is too busy trying to imagine what the underside of a giant springtail looks like?
Well now you can rest easy - it's as adorable and alien as you'd expect. Just look at that little mouth!
#Collembola #HotSpringtailSummer #SpringtailSaturday #MacroPhotography #SoilBiodiversity #SoilEcology
Sometimes with macrophotography things just line up perfectly, as with this photo of a globular springtail (a female Stenacidia violacea) on some moss.
Have a great weekend everyone!
#SoilBiodiversity #SoilFauna #SoilBiota #Collembola #Springtail #SpringtailSaturday #Macrophotography #Mesofauna
I was just leaving High Park yesterday when I stopped on a whim to flip one last rock, and found this adorable little poduromorph springtail underneath! It took a tumble as it crawled around the rock, but it got back on its feet.
Possibly _Neanura_? #iNaturalist observation: https://www.inaturalist.ca/observations/152306113 
I've been quite absent from here lately due to busy life stuff, but thanks for all the recent follows - here's a lovely little springtail (Neelus murinus) to say thanks!
Hopefully things will calm down again soon and I'll have more time to regularly post more photos on here.
#SoilBiodiversity #SoilFauna #SpringtailSaturday #Macrophotography #MesoFauna #Collembola #Springtail
Frank Ashwood
neville park