12.12.18 - Attenborough Arboretum

I've never sampled springtails from the Attenborough Arboretum before, so a bag full of leaf litter was my first detailed look at this site. I was able to find five species, all in approximately equal numbers: Dicyrtomina ornata, Entomobrya nicoleti, Orchesella cincta and Orchesella villosa.

The major interest in this sample was Sminthurinus reticulatus, the first record of this species for VC55. I'm afraid this photo is not very good as I initially discounted this specimen as the very similar Sminthurinus aureus, but S. reticulatus is distinctively patterned with 3-4 transverse bands on the dorsal abdomen plus dark lateral bands which are discontinuous around the posterior end of the abdomen:



Interestingly, it is now weeks since I have seen any Tomocerids in any sample - is this a delayed reaction to the drought/heatwave of 2018?