The Frontier Is Closer Than We Think

by Eric Neubauer

Recently, while photographing wolf spiders scooped off of a lake beach, a strange tiny critter appeared in the bowl along with a spider. It was easier to photograph than ignore, and it was about as small as I could get with my camera.

I uploaded it to iNaturalist figuring it was a juvenile bug (Hemiptera) but was soon told it was probably a globular springtail (Symphypleona). A while later someone even made a species ID (Pseudobourletiella spinata). Try to say that quickly. No common name of course.

Now I’d heard of springtails during my TMN training, but globular springtails? I checked these out on iNat, and my observation was a county first for the species, and only the fifth in Texas. The others were from the Austin area and brown. Most in the U.S. were also brown, so I’m guessing than mine may have been the adult form. You can learn something new every day.

You’ll note the two pale shapes of the critter. They are simply reflections of my light ring which I built for my equipment so I could take consistent photos, cloudy or clear, day or night.