Collembola

I'm sure most of you here are familiar with Collembola - though, perhaps not by that name. They are often referred to as "springtails" due to an appendage called the furcula which is located ventrally on the animal's body that allows them to spring into the air when they feel they are in danger. Most likely you have them running around your greenhouse or even in the soil of your favorite potted houseplant.

Fall is a great time to find them in the Pacific Northwest as they prefer humid conditions and tend to live amongst the freshly fallen leaves that make up the leaf litter in forests or even in your own yard. Most are very small - 1-2mm is typical and sometimes even smaller than that! Occasionally, you might find larger ones - such as the species pictured in the first photo below (this one was +6.5mm long!). This makes photographing them difficult, but also very rewarding in my opinion.

Here are a few recent photos I've taken of these interesting creatures:











I recently acquired a new lens to play around with that gives me greater magnification - these photos are taken at just under 6:1 reproduction (a "typical" macro lens or "true" macro lens usually has a magnification reproduction ratio of 1:1!):

 

Thank you, naoki! No, I shoot with a Nikon. The "new" lens is an older Nikon 24mm f/2.8 AI reversed on 85mm of extension tubes (previous lens for Collembola photos was an old 35mm f/2.8 Non-AI lens reversed on the same extension tubes).