Orchesella villosa: Big, Hairy Springtail At Rest

e6filmusere6filmuser Registered Users Posts: 3,379 Major grins
edited March 22, 2015 in Holy Macro
In western Europe, at least, if you look amongst leaf litter on the ground, or lift flat stones or rotten logs where there is moisture underneath, you will often see this species. It is up to 5.5 mm long, very hairy (villosa means hairy) and jumps readily and powerfully.

The type of colour pattern in the images is typical, another character of the genus is the division of at least one of the basal segments of the antennae into two, giving more than the standard number of four per side for Collembola. (Not to be confused with the annulations on the second or second and third segments in some genera).

I found these two, several days apart, head down, immobile (apart from some slow movements of the antennae, and definitely not jumping.

I am unsure of the exact situation. The strong, erect, black hairs (first image), with backward-curving tips are typical. Prior to moult, a duplicate set would be seen, lying flat under the skin. These look fresh from recent moult, with the fine colourless hairs, lying flat on top of the skin, perhaps not yet erected and dried out. That some of this long setae are still pale in the second individual (second and third images) suggests that we see it a shorter time after its moult.

EM-1, Leitz Photar 50mm on extension, f11, twin TTL RC flash, on not attached to the camera, hand-held with support from the substrate.

Harold

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