PlaqSearch

A few years ago when I was pretending to be a mycologist I became aware that the community was using PlaqSearch (Google it: stated ingredients: Fd and C Blue No 1, D and C Red No 28, Dextrates, Magnesium Sterate, Sodium Starch Glycolate) for differential staining of fungi. This is designed to show if you have dental plaque so it is safe to use as it is intended for oral use. In fungi, some tissues stain blue and others pink. I still have a bottle of this kicking around in my microscope kit and every time I make slides I think "I should try it on springtails". And so I did.

My first attempt was on Isotoma viridis preserved in 70% alcohol - a 5 minute stain, destain in water and mount. The results were underwhelming, just a few random pink patches resulting from inefficient destaining I think. In retrospect, since PlaqSearch is water-based this was predictable because of the hydrophobic nature of the Collembolan cuticle:



I had another go, this time with a cleared specimen:



Nothing really of interest, so I conclude that PlaqSearch doesn't offer anything of interest to the Collembologist (if that's a word).

18.03.19 - Leicester Botanic Garden

A quick trip to the Botanic Garden turned into a Collembola version of Goldilocks and the three bears. The first place I sampled was full of Entomobrya multifasciata.

The second place was full of Entomobrya intermedia.

The third place was full of Entomobrya nivalis.

But scattered throughout all three were Katiannidae genus nov.1 sp. nov, which I finally managed to get some decent photos of:

09.03.19 - Knighton Park

The combination of gale force winds, horizontal rain and sleet meant that we didn't venture far, but a brief sunny interval allowed us to nip out to the local park. The leaf litter is over for the season now so this was my first beating collection for the season. This yielded lots of Entomobrya multifasciata:



and a few Entomobrya nicoleti:



Springtail-wise nothing surprising, but some nice spiders (which I write about in the other place), and an opportunity to practice a few new photographic approaches, in the warm and out of the wind.

Entomobrya intermedia

I thought it would be nice to get some habitat shots, although being honest, this one jumped out of a recipe book in the kitchen when it was opened this morning! Uncooperative springtail but the bits in focus look very sharp indeed.

02.03.19 - Ingarsby

I visited a small area of woodland beside the road at Ingarsby. Conditions were very dry so I started by sampling as close to the stream as I could. This yielded two Dicyrtomina saundersi, plus numerous Orchesella cincta, Tomocerus vulgaris and lots of Lepidocyrtus lignorum (predominantly pale with faint traces of blue pigment on the head, thorax and legs; scales present on the legs and ant1+ant2, no scales on ant3+ant4 (c.f. L. curvicollis); eyepatch roundish (less elongate than other species); no interocular macrosetae):




I also sampled the trunks of several Ash trees and the moss on them. Here Orchesella cincta was very abundant but there were also quite a few Tomocerus vulgaris. Although it is regarded as a common species, I don't record T. vulgaris as often as I see Tomocerus minor:



However, the scales are easily lost, these specimens were confirmed by the presence of simple (rather than three-pointed) spines on the dens:

16.02.19 - Stoughton

A quick trip to a local empty tetrad. The only access was roadside verges, and I learned that sampling from roadside verges is not fun. The hedges have all been flailed to death and the verges are full of sharp bits of wood and thorns. After a few warm days I was in spring mode, so I took kit with me thinking of doing some beating, but on site the battered hedges were completely bare, so that was abandoned quickly. The previous week was also completely dry, which was reflected in the species recorded - although there were good numbers of springtails, there were no globbies at all.

Competition time!

I find Orchesella can be quite difficult to identify in preserved specimens - much harder than live specimens. So two questions:

1. Spot the odd one out!
2. What features allow you to identify the two species in this picture?