Orchesella villosa – Please do not mistake this for a bottle or pipe cleaner. It is a springtail, and boy do they spring when you uspet their day. At least this species has a nice short name. Amazing what you can find by just lifting a small plant pot. For more info on Springtails you can travel there via the link below. Please double-click both images to enlarge.
© Peter Hillman ♦ 7th April 2020 ♦ Rear garden, Staffordshire ♦ Nikon D7200
No, this is not a bottle cleaner, but a tiny springtail called Orchesella villosa, which are part of our everday microfauna we don’t always see. Double click on the image to enlarge.
September 2017, discovered under an upturned stone, rear garden, Staffordshire, England.
Orchesella villosa is another springtail, but one of Britain’s largest growing up to 5mm (0.2in) long. It can leap a fair way, too, when it feels threatened, and I thought I had lost it a few times.
I would not have got this level of detail or this close with just the Sigma macro lens, even on its closest setting. With the Raydox DCR-250 clipped on the end it has added to my magnification, and combined with the external flash unit has given me more detail and clarity, where the eye, the bristles and the patterns of the springtail are fairly distinct. Again, being handheld, I had to stabalise my arms and hands by leaning on a wall to get this shot.
Rear garden, Staffordshire, England. July 2017.
Please click on an image for a larger more detailed view. Clicking a second time may get you a little closer.
Nature Journeys 