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Springtails: Winter Insects
By Joseph Markow, Cornwall
Most insects retreat underground and in bark or leaf litter during winter. One insect that you can readily see in winter is the springtail. In large numbers, this insect looks like dust scattered on the snow. They are constantly bouncing around, which may even sound like rain as they move on dry leaves. Up close, this insect has the typical three body parts and six legs of an insect, but they lack wings. Instead, their locomotion is "jump-started" by two appendages under their abdomen that launch like an upside-down catapult, thrusting their body into the air.
They spend a lot of time in groups and feed on decaying plant and animal matter. On warm winter days they sometimes take advantage of areas of snow or ground that have a microclimate warmer than surrounding areas.
Springtails are considered to be one of the most primitive insects, meaning that they retain characteristics that resemble the earliest insects or even the ancestors of insects. With the current count of over one million species of insects on earth, it is amazing that we can learn a lot about their origins from something the size of a speck of dust in our backyard.
Other resources:
• Stokes Guide to Nature in Winter by Donald Stokes, 1976
• Stokes Guide to Observing Insect Lives by Donald Stokes, 1983
• Peterson Guide to the Ecology of Eastern Forests by John Kricher and Gordon Morrison, 1988
• A Golden Guide to Insects by Herbert Zim and Clarence Cottam, 1987
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