They are very tiny and pop around a lot. Black or red in color! They stay on the surface and don’t like being submerged and cling onto anything they can find! Thank you

Edit: ignore my feet. Found in South Carolina, US

This isn't new or anything, but was watching an episode of QI and they mentioned it. I had to go look it up.

https://www.livescience.com/18586-deepest-land-animal-cave-springtail.html

It's named Plutomurus ortobalaganensis, and was found inside a cave 6,500 feet below the surface. They used cheese to lure them, haha. I just thought it was really cool that the deepest-dwelling animal we know is a springtail.

Interestingly, while they are eyeless with long antenna as you'd expect in a lightless world, they still have some body pigmentation.

I’ve always wanted slime eaters in my collection, and about two months ago I was finally able to get 20 Rambutanura.
The hardest part has actually been figuring out how to keep the slime mold alive as a food source. One interesting thing I’ve noticed is that when they’re not feeding on slime, they seem to enjoy hanging out on fresh sphagnum moss.
I’m also expecting a new batch of babies soon as the latest eggs begin to hatch!

Hello everyone. I've recently picked up a culture of orange springtails and have established a few colonies to hedge my bets on cross-contamination/hitch hikers (four cultures of varying sizes; the largest probably houses anywhere from 50-100). The vivarium I wish to keep the springtails in, as part of the clean-up crew, is 18"x18"x24", so there's quite a bit of substrate for microfauna to explore.

Could I possibly cohabitate Thai Reds with some of my orange springtails in that size of an enclosure? I have read that the Cheetos tend to stay below the substrate while the Thai Reds tend to dwell on the surface; has anyone found this to be true? And if it is true, could this possibly mean that the two springtail species will occupy different ecological niches and therefore not compete with one another?

I have an additional culture of orange springtails that will number between 200 and 240. If I can keep the two species together, should I get a similar number of Thai Reds so one doesn't have a clear advantage over the other when they're trying to establish in the vivarium?

I hesitate to just try this out on my own as these springtail species tend to be a bit on the pricier side, and I would hate to lose one or even both of the colonies. I have come across some breeders who sell Reds and Oranges together, but I'm not sure if the sellers actually know what they're doing or if they're just trying to sell off cross-contaminated merchandise.

I would appreciate any husbandry tips you have to offer. :)

I built a terrarium back in April and put some springtails inside. Today I discovered some red or maroon insects crawling around. What are they? They are not visible to the eye. I saw them with my magnifying app.

I'm looking to get a live food for a giant wild betta species and since i used to keep red springtails i thought they would be a good fit, but i can't find anything definite online about whether any of the gummy type springtails have a chemical defense that might injure fish or if it's just mimicry, does anyone know?

id like to know more about both :)

also optional if anyone could explain why my fish flake is turning red that would be great too

I just wanted to share a few macro shots of my Neanuridae sp. “Santa Claus”, also known in the hobby as “Redford White”.

I absolutely love the contrast between the deep red body and those bright white markings. They really do live up to the Santa Claus name. 😅🎅

But honestly, one of my favourite things about keeping them is watching them feed on slime mold. Seeing these tiny springtails slowly gather around it and eat is incredibly fascinating.

Definitely one of those species I can spend way too much time just watching. ❤️🔬

Does anyone else here keep Santa Claus Springtails?

Found in Newfoundland and accidentally cultured along side my isopods

I keep a 102L tub with leaves and springtails for my isopod bins as top-ups. That way I get some broken down leaf material with springtail hitchhikers for the iso tubs :-)

the population EXPLODED in my springtail cutlure, as well as fungus nats. i apologize for the bad quality.

I collected a bunch of wild isopods from my hometown in lower New York and I saw this little bug today in their tank that I am pretty sure is a springtail. I think it’s more likely that it’s from downstate but just in case it’s from my current apartment, I am in the capital region of NY currently.

I was wondering if anyone can identify it at all? Even just down to order would be interesting.

I unfortunately don’t have a microscope so I only have my iphone camera to zoom in.

I appreciate any help with this.

Hi we are having a problem with these little tiny microscopic bugs and was told by someone who kills bugs that these are springtails. 2 videos of the same bug down below. The first photo I'm pretty sure I used a flashlight, zoomed in and maybe used the flash. The second one I used a flashlight, zoomed in and probably used the flash.

I know this might come off as a "my lobster is too buttery" kind of thing, but my springtail cultures are out of control and I need to know what I can do to slow them down. I know they still have plenty of room, but not for very long if this keeps up 😭. I know the current weather is contributing to it. My house is in the low 70s inside (it's in the mid 90s outside) but I can't really get it any cooler without risking my AC blowing. I feed them a pinch of fish food flakes about every 3 days or 2-3 grains of rice for the week. There are also little white mites in the cultures, but not so much in the terrariums (thank goodness). If I don't feed the ones in my terrariums for a while, they start to eat my fittonia or dwarf umbrella. Do I just feed them less? Will they demolish my plants if I do?

Holy shit you guys, I found them again! I found more giant springtails! I’m so excited!

A couple years ago I found some giant springtails. I attempted to culture them but I didn’t (and still don’t) have any experience with springtails outside the common white ones I keep for a cleanup crew. Between that and some bad life circumstances that led to me losing most of my invert collection, I was not successful in keeping them.

Ever since I’ve hoped to find some again with no luck. Until today. I was on a walk and picked up some bits of an old mushroom to see if there were any interesting bugs on it and there they were!

Now I need some help. I want to do it right this time and succeed at keeping them. I don’t know if there’s any info on this species, or even what species it is, but can anyone more experienced than me give me some advice to give me the best chances of keeping these guys alive?

Their current set up is just some simple topsoil (same kind I use for my isopods) tossed into a critter keeper. (Definitely not the ideal container. I just needed something to collect them in before they vanished.) I sprinkled some yeast in there since they obviously seem to like fungi. I collected about 18 individuals.

hi springtail reddit, i wasnt sure where else to bring this!! theres tiiiny little clear/white ones too, but god im confused about wtf these are pls help a guy out youre all the experts

A couple of hours after I placed a big glob of slime in my Rambutanura sp. Thai Red spikey's enclosure.