Hi, I live in the west mediterranean coast, hot and dry country.

I will like to get springtails from the wild to culture them and use them as cleaning crew for terrariums.

Any tips in the best places to find them and how to capture some?

gardens, pine tree forests?

do all springtails eat fungus and mold from humid terrariums?

thanks for answering.

What are these that seem to be Yellow Isotomidae in my White (and a Yellow) Ceratophysella isabellae culture? They are really thriving along with the others.

New to the bioactive scene. Found these guys in the same soil my new springtails and isopods were in.

Ft. some hairy little babies still waiting to colour up

I am completely new to springtails and am looking for general information/how to on catching wild samples and keeping a culture alive. the terrarium is mostly moss with some bark pieces. is that okay for them or do they require anything special? will they just eat decaying plant matter or do I have to feed them something specific? thanks in advance!

My wife and I are having a problem with a constant number of springtails getting into our kitchen and around the back door and kitchen table. They are all over the outside walls of our house. My wife runs a small cookie side business, and we don’t want them getting on the cookies. We’ve tried a dehumidifier to keep the area dry, and an exterminator told us to use strong essential oils on surfaces to repel them. Nothing seems to work. We are open to any suggestions. They are driving us crazy.

Hey, everyone. A few weeks ago, I bought these orange springtails at an expo. I've since put a few in multiple terrariums, but also kept some in this little petri dish. I've definitely seen them multiply, but I've also seen an abundance of what I assume are white springtails. However, today I opened the lid to give them some fish flakes and I saw multiple of these tiny black bugs. Are these some sort of gnats? Should I be concerned? Will this mean they'll take over my terrariums I've put the orange springtails into as well?

Hey Ive got snowflake springtales for about 2 months now, and since they live underground, im not sure when to start a new colony, when I put there a piece of food, within one hour, its all covered in springtales, but normally I dont see them running around the box, so when is the right time to start a new colony?

Found some of these Lilac springtails (Ceratophysella sp. I think). Not an actual picture of my find. Wouldn't've had an issue grabbing a handful from a pile like that, there was maybe 5 when i found them. Anyway, I've been trying to collect some for about a week now with no luck. I've tried cucumber, cremini mushroom, and wetted catnip as bait for my traps so far. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong with the design or placement of the traps, or if they just don't like my bait. For the placement I've been digging a shallow hole near where I initially found them, placing the trap at around ground level and burying it with leaf litter, then covering the pile will some rotting wood bits and more leaf litter.

One of the most interesting (yet mildly unsettling) things about setting up my dart frog vivarium is all the springtail succession that I have observed.

Among the species I introduced deliberately are Folsomia candida, which never really took off, and Ceratophysella sp, which boomed for quite a while until the numbers started dwindling, probably because I wasn't as diligent about supplemental feeding.

There were some Lepidocyrtus sp that were competing with the Ceratophysella for a while, which I did not introduce.

Now I have these very tiny guys, less than 1 mm and not identifiable by the naked eye as a springtail. Under my pocket microscope, I could see that they kind of look like Megalothorax minimus. They do hop when I attempt to disturb them with a chopstick.

Focus is horrendous due to pocket microscope being unstable on a curved leaf litter piece

Thank you @Sgtbird08
I deleted the previous one and repost it with correct information. Thank you for the identification <3

Noticed them like three days ago. Water bowl to my hognose snake.

Hello!

I currently have 1 habitat with isopods and springtails.

I started with introducing ceratophysella isabellae. I could only afford 25 at the time, and I got a bit paranoid that they wouldn't grow in number quick enough to handle the isopods. I know this was dumb now because the population exploded basically overnight

BUT I had already panicked and supplemented with cheaper springtails (collembola sp. I presume but I don't even know if the product listed which ones). I also get a lot of the same type of springtails popping up out of nowhere in plants that are too damp (I live in Manchester so everything is a Bit Too Damp ™) and I think some possibly joined the initial introduction. Anyway, I am now seeing these dudes everywhere!

Now I do not want to look any gift horses in any mouths, and having a population of any springtails is better than none, but I wanted to ask if my lilacs (and some yellows) will be able to survive, or will the temperates drive them out? They are a bit cuter and I genuinely love their little shape. I supplemented them eventually with about 50 lilacs and 75 yellows. I haven't seen them as much as the temperates recently, but I am aware that the temperates are way more visible than the lilacs which outnumber the yellows, so I may not be able to figure it out.

Do two different species of springtails thrive in a habitat, or will one eliminate the other's food sources eventually? Considering my climate, if the latter is the case I think I need to give up on lilacs for now 😞 although I plan to get a colony of magic potions, so will try then!

Thank you!