Wishing you a Collembola Christmas

With Monobella grassei baubles.

The Science Bit:
Luminescent springtails have been recognized in the families Neanuridae and Onychiuridae (Harvey, E.N. (1952) Bioluminescence. Academic Press; Haneda, Y. (1955) Luminous organisms of Japan and the Far East. The luminescence of biological systems), but the observations are quite limited. It is not clear whether collembolan luminescence is true bioluminescence (endogenous) or accidental due to ingestion of luminous bacteria or fungi. A Japanese springtail Lobelia spp. (Neanuridae) may be self-luminous. This species is ∼3 mm long, found in leaf litter and emits a continuous weak green light from abdominal tubercles. The biological function this luminescence is unknown, but it may be either for defence or sexual communication, since the luminescence is emitted on stimulation and also occurrs in the sexual phase (Lloyd, J.E. (1978) Insect bioluminescence. Bioluminescence in Action, 241-272).