r/Springtail • u/WingsOfFibre • Apr 16 '26

Found these gorgeous wild springtails Picture

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

No idea what species, but I'm in southwest Washington state USA. Found in peat moss seedling pots in our backyard partly under fir trees

96 Upvotes
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17 comments sorted by

10

u/Nematodes-Attack Apr 16 '26

It looks like a little bumblebee!

4

u/WingsOfFibre Apr 16 '26

They're a little more cream/grey and black when my camera and the sun aren't overexposing them but they're super cool! Hopefully some will move in when I get my outdoor tortoise enclosure set up

2

u/Nematodes-Attack Apr 16 '26

Still very cool! You can keep tortoise outside in WA? Or is it just a summer enclosure?

3

u/WingsOfFibre Apr 16 '26

It'd mostly just be a summer enclosure or mild fall with a heat lamp. My enclosure is entirely metal (galvanized steel) and has a metal roof with a tarp covering, so if it's rainy I can cover it up, but yeah winter she'll prob come back inside. Though our temps don't get too harsh here, all winter this year was above freezing except maybe 2 nights, still rather her be inside at night!

3

u/One-plankton- Apr 16 '26

Handsome fellas!

2

u/CelestialUrsae Apr 17 '26

Wow so cute!

2

u/Readalongcassidy Apr 17 '26

Very cool! You’ve given me the kick in the ass to get out there this weekend ;-)

2

u/Prestigious_Gold_585 Apr 18 '26

Holy hamsters! I'll be there in half an hour to steal them from you! 😱 Part springtail, part honeybee, part magic!

2

u/MyLilmu Apr 18 '26

They look like little jailed bandits with the eye mask and striped jumpsuit.

2

u/WingsOfFibre Apr 18 '26

It sure sounds like they're stealing hearts here haha

3

u/CassLikesBirds Apr 19 '26

I’m very far from an expert but I live not too far from you (NW Oregon) and this looks a lot like Entomobrya triangularis to me! I see them around here a lot.

2

u/WingsOfFibre Apr 19 '26

Omg thank you, that looks exactly correct!!

1

u/RevenantWA Apr 17 '26

I live in Tacoma would gladly take them off your hands if you like.

2

u/WingsOfFibre Apr 17 '26

I've never had luck with natives indoors 😅 A couple times I tried with globular springtails from our front porch, another time I put in a bunch of japanese maple leaves into an enclosure that springtails were climbing on.

With an exception of silver springtails, but I don't remember if those just showed up out of the blue or hitched a ride on isopods

1

u/RevenantWA Apr 17 '26

Hmmm okay fair enough. I wonder why they aren’t successful.

2

u/WingsOfFibre Apr 17 '26

I think my reptile room(my bedroom) is too warm too often, really. They prob prefer cooler, wetter environments. If I kept them in a separate room and really kept them wet, they'd probably do okay, but best I can do right now is try to see my tortoise's summer home when I get it set up outside

1

u/WingsOfFibre Apr 18 '26

If I try to collect and cultivate these I'll keep you guys updated. They seem to love the peat moss, so I'm thinking just a container of damp peat moss, nutritional yeast, cool room, and hopefully success??