A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Podura aquatica
Springtails are fascinating tiny arthropods, among the most numerous creatures on earth that are visible to the unaided eye. These water springtails hang out on the surface of water, eating algae and decaying material. They are less than 2mm long and able to jump across the water without breaking its surface tension. Although water springtails live only around water, I've regularly found them in desert areas where water is ephemeral. These were living in a very temporary mud puddle.
It's interesting to compare these little guys to some of the other springtails I've found over the last year or two: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/744... http://textless.tumblr.com/post/40761095...
Spotted on Oct 23, 2011
Submitted on Nov 13, 2011
2 Comments
Thanks Kristal. They are kind of cute, and soooo tiny. When I first noticed some a year or two ago, I thought they were specks of dirt.
Cute!