Springtail

Order Collembola

Appearance

•  Adults 1 - 5mm long.
•  They can be black, white, yellow, lavender, red, green or gold. Some are patterned, mottled, iridescent or even metallic.
•  In addition to antennae and three pairs of legs, springtails jump with an unusual forked structure on the end of their abdomen, called the furcula.

Lifecycle

•  Eggs are spherical and about 0.2 mm in diameter.
•  They are laid singly or in clusters. After about 10 days, the eggs hatch into juveniles and in 6 days mature to adult.
•  Adults live up to one year.

Habits

•  They prefer dark, damp areas in natural habitats like leaf mould, damp soil or rotting logs.
•  They feed on algae, decomposing vegetable matter, bacteria and fungi.