Sminthurides malmgreni

For the past ten years the aquarium housing my ancient Axolotl has also been home to a colony of Sminthurides malmgreni. I have done nothing to maintain them, but they happily persist wandering around on the surface of the water, on and off the 1.5mm long leaves of the Common Duckweed, Lemna minor. 

Inevitably on Springwatch, someone gets shipped off to Scotland to be eaten alive by midges and film the Red Deer stags locking antlers during the rut. If I want to watch rutting, I have no need to move further than the corner of my study, where the emancipated females lift the smaller males off their feet and wander off with them whenever they feel the urge. 

 

Sminthurides malmgreni

Sminthurides malmgreni is a common and widespread species (more common than Sminthurides aquaticus). The body is yellow in colour with longitudinal bands of dark pigment. There is also a black form, Sminthurides malmgreni ssp nigrescens. Males reach 0.3 mm in length whereas females grow to 0.6 mm.






In Sminthurides species, the male antennae are modified to grasp the female during mating and the long spine on the second antennal segment (ant2) is curved. In this species the fourth antennal segment in the female is not divided into clear subsegments.