The Drought

Pogonognathellus.

I've got to admit I've been slacking off with the springtails over the last couple of months. The drought started it off, but now we've had rain and the summer species are here. I need to get my act together again but the summer holiday feeling persists. A little break will do me good and I plan to do some pitfall trapping soon.

The pitfalls of studying springtails

To get a complete picture of the springtails in an area it's necessary to combine various collection methods, including pitfall trapping. This is not something I have done before but I have been running a pitfall trap for a few days. It collects a wide variety of taxa but since I'm running a dry trap the organisms I don't think I can identify are returned to run free without harm. Several springtails species have turned up so far, including numerous specimens of small (~1mm) Lepidocyrtus. I struggled to identify these until I eventually figured out that they are Lepidocyrtus cyaneus, seemingly the predominant species at present on my collecting site.

06.05.19 - Highway Spinney

Did a bit of surveying on a new patch. Very dry and not too much found but I did turn up Entomobrya albocincta, Entomobrya nicoleti and Entomobrya nivalis.

02.05.19 - Stoney Stanton

I was asked to participate in a farm survey covering all taxa. Although conditions were very dry I took the opportunity to look for springtails. There were reasonable numbers of Entomobrya multifasciata and Entomobrya nicoleti but by far the most numerous were Deuterosminthurus pallipes. For the first time ever, I found the purple nominate form - outnumbered at least 100:1 by the yellow form repandus.

17.04.19 - Croft Pasture

With the dry conditions I headed for the water meadows at Croft desperate to find moisture (and springtails). Both were in short supply but I found a few Entomobrya nicoleti and Entomobrya nivalis. Most notable were the Deuterosminthurus pallipes - a sure sign that summer's here (even if the temperatures still feel like winter).

10.04.19 - Tilton Cutting

I visited Tilton Cutting because at times it's so wet that you can't really go there. However, the drought is really beginning to bite and finding any springtails at all was hard work. Eventually I managed to scrape together a short list: Entomobrya nivalis, Orchesella cincta, Pogonognathellus longicornis, Tomocerus minor.