#anurida maritima

[inaturalist-unofficial]

Can I suggest springtails for your iNat requests -- specifically Poduromorpha/Neanuridae? They are wonderful, incredibly underappreciated creatures and there are some beautiful observations on iNat -- if you want to see the real stunners, check out Pseudachorutinae

Thank you for writing in! Springtails are delightful creatures that I hope to photograph more, but they like to spring out of frame! It always seems I have more luck photographing them unintentionally than I do intentionally. Maybe they want to surprise you post-upload when you find them scattered in the dirt behind a bug so many times their size!

Dragon Springtails (Genus Acanthanura) © Nick Porch [ID: A dark-bodied arthropod with six orange legs and orange bumps and horn-like structures on its head and back. The protrusions are longest on top of it's head, along it's sides, and at it's rear. /End ID] Truly stunning! This individual was observed in Southeast Australia. The name Dragon suits the horns on it's head well.

Seashore Springtail (Anurida maritima) © Evan C [ID: Several dozen bluish grey springtails cluster together as they float on the surface tension of the water.]

This raft of springtails was observed in Coastal Maine, US. This species is considered cosmopolitan but is apparently not found in parts of the British Isles and the Baltic Sea. If anyone seeing this has access to a rocky coast or intertidal zone, see if you can find an aggregation of these guys! They use pheromones to group together and float easily due to their small size and hydrophobic bristles on their body.

Thank you again for the request, I learned a bit more and grew more curious!

#nature photography #wildlife photography #ecology #zoology #nature #springtails #killy killy #ask #inaturalist #entognatha #photography

[platycryptus]

floating rafts of wiggly lil seashore springtails (Anurida maritima) in a tidepool

Maine, 9/15/19

#springtails #anurida maritima #bugs #bugblr #collembola #biology #entomology

[paeonia-horse]

Seashore springtails (Anurida maritima).

Thousands, maybe even millions of them were gathered in rock pools at the top of the shore. They were everywhere!

#springtails #springtail #anurida maritima #insect #critter #hexapod

[astronomy-to-zoology]

Anurida maritima (no common name)

is a a species of springtail native to the shores and marshes of the British Isles. Unlike most springtails this species cannot "spring" as its furcula is vestigial. A. maritima does not need to jump though as it spends most of its time on the waters surface, staying above with special hydrophobic hairs lining its body. They are primarily scavengers of dead animals like crustaceans and molluscs that are found near the shore.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Arthropoda-Entognatha-Collembola-Poduromorpha-Neanuridae-Anurida-maritima

Image Sources: 1,2

#Anurida maritima #springtail #arthropoda #entognatha #collembola #poduromorpha #Neanuridae #hexapoda #britian #europe #animals #science