Is it a mite?

t

Common names

springtails, collembolans, lucerne flea

Probability of encounter

high

Quarantine importance

Some species are pests of plants.

Similarity to mites

Small size and ubiquity. Members of the Symphypleona and Neelipleona have indistinct segmentation and are most likely to be confused with mites, but all have antennae and a collophore.

Morphology

Normal adult length: <3 mm (0.5–10 mm)
Body tagmata: head, thorax, abdomen (6-segmented, with ventral tube on S1 and furcula on S4, cerci absent)
Eyes: 8 + 8 ocelli maximum
Antennae: 4 segmented (sometimes subdivided)
Mouthparts: entognathous, mandibles usually with molar area; short buccal cone in some taxa; labial & maxillary palps usually vestigial
Legs: 3 thoracic pairs (subcoxae + 4 segments: coxa, trochanter, femur, tibiotarsus); single claw (unguis) + empodial appendage (unguiculus)
Distinguishing features: trichobothria, postantennal organ (olfactory), pseudocelli (head and body of Onychiuridae), distal furcula (furca), genital opening on S5.

Comments: Springtails have two basic body forms—elongate and rounded. The elongate species usually have clearly defined abdominal segmentation, but those with rounded bodies lack clear segmentation.

Springtails always have a distinct head with antennae and may or may not have simple eyes (ocelli). The mouthparts are mandibulate, but withdrawn into the head and difficult to see. Neanurine springtails have a short, cone-like beak and appear to be fluid feeders. The thorax has three pairs of legs that end in distinctive claws, and the abdomen usually ends with a forked appendage—the furcula (or furca)—that is used to propel them through the air when threatened.

Protura are similar in size and overall appearance to some springtails, but proturans lack antennae, have antenniform front legs and have many segmented abdomens with small styli on the first three segments and no collophore or furcula. 

Springtails are very common and often abundant in any kind of soil, moist or rotting wood, and areas with mildew or other fungal growths, including low growing plants, the trunks of trees, and suspended soils. Springtails were among the first terrestrial arthropods and most species feed on microbes, detritus, and minute invertebrates (e.g., nematodes). Some are predators and a few species feed on plants and are important pests—e.g., the lucerne flea. In life, most species are greyish to pale brown or colorless (white); however, some soil-dwellers are brightly colored (orange or boldly patterned in white and bluish grey).

Diversity

5 orders, ca. 28 families, >6,000 species

Poduromorpha
     Neanuridae
     Odontellidae
     Brachystomellidae
     Hypogastruridae
     Onychiuridae
     Tullbergiidae
     Gulgastruridae

Metaxypleona
     Poduridae

Entomobryomorpha
     Isotogastruridae
     Isotomidae
     Entomobryidae
     Paronellidae
     Cyphoderidae
     Oncopoduridae
     Tomoceridae
     Actaletidae
     Coenaletidae
     Microfalculidae
     Protentomobryidae

Neelipleona
     Neelidae

Symphypleona
     Sminthuridae (including Arrhopalitidae, Katiannidae, Bourletiellidae)
     Dicyrtomidae
     Mackenziellidae
     Sturmiidae
     Spinothecidae

References

• Bellinger et al. 1996–2024Bellinger et al. 1996–2024:
  Bellinger PF, Christiansen KA, Janssens F. 1996–2024. Checklist of the Collembola of the world. Accessed 2024.
• Greenslade 1991Greenslade 1991:
  Greenslade PJ. 1991. Collembola. pp. 252–264. In: CSIRO, ed. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers, Vol. 1. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
• Gunn and Greenslade 1999Gunn and Greenslade 1999:
  Gunn BM, Greenslade PJ. 1999. Key to order and superfamily of Australian Collembola [Lucid multimedia key]. In: An Interactive Guide to Australian Aquatic Invertebrates (Windows ed. 2). CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood. (Original work published on CD-ROM)
• Janssens 2009Janssens 2009:
  Janssens F. 2009. Checklist of the Collembola: Pictorial key to common surface dwelling species of Collembola from the Netherlands.
• Maddison (Tree of Life Web Project) 2002 Maddison (Tree of Life Web Project) 2002 :
  Maddison DR. 2002. Collembola. Springtails. Version 01 January 2002 (under construction). The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/