What lies beneath
If you look very closely underneath logs and leaf litter you will discover the world of tiny little creatures, who come in all manor of shape, size and colour. The ones in this post range from just 1-2mm to a mighty 5-10mm in size.
As you might guess these do take some spotting with the naked eye, and even more when trying to locate in the camera’s view finder when shooting at magnifcations of 3x or higher. It becomes even more challenging when they decide to move, and some move incredibly fast even for their tiny size. Personally I find it very satisfying when I manage to get a photo that captures and introduces others to this amazing tiny world.
The initial set are of the larger fellows in this band of tiny fellows, the Linear Springtails (Collembola). First named Mr Hairy for obvious reasons.
The last of the Linears is a panorama of 2 images merged.
You may discover another type of Springtail, the Globular Springtail (Order Symphypleona) of which there are several different coloured varieties of.
There are also predators feeding on the small and unwary, tiny spiders are one such. This one is eating a bark fly nymph.
The highlight for me on this particular occasion of peering into this hidden world was finding a Pseudoscorpion (Microbisium brevifemoratum), which I believe is a Dark-clawed Chthonid Pseudoscorpion (Chthonius tenuis).
Finally the winner on the day for being the smallest of them all, weighing in at just 1-2mm in length, this possible Orbital mite.
[mappress mapid=”78″]
[mappress mapid=”42″]
