Spring tails

[Deathtraps]

hey Guys,
just wondering, does anyone have spring tails in their garden that is the size of 2-3 mm? if so can i send u a SASA for some? i like to watch my sundew catches them for food. once they jump onto the dew, then they are stuck. the one in my garden are too small (like 1mm).

jason

 

[Pyro]

I very much doubt that any springtails will survive a trip in the mail. Envelopes get rolled through some intense pressure in sortng machines. That and the buggers are so small they'd likely escape. If you have springtails already then just let them grow

 

[Sundewd]

wutz a spring tail?

 

[Darcie]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Sundewd @ Feb. 25 2003,01:20)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">wutz a spring tail?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
little green bugs that do backflips to escape from danger and suck plant sap.

 

[Pyro]

Actually they are little gray/brown/black/silver/other drab colour insects that feed on detritus. Only real bad infestations would result in feeding on live matter

 

[Spectabilis73]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Pyro @ Feb. 24 2003,12:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Actually they are little gray/brown/black/silver/other drab colour insects that feed on detritus. Only real bad infestations would result in feeding on live matter[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
yep, and I have lots of them!




anyways, why in the world would anyone want them? they're so annoying!!! It's impossible to feed them to cps, as their tail just breaks off, then they hop away!!!

lol. I think they're also called siverfish.

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

They aren't the same a silverfish but they are related.
And why would someone want to introduce another pest into their home?

Silverfish

Springtails

 

[Deathtraps]

u know, some people culture them for their poison dart frogs and fish.

when i put them in with my sundew they jump around and eventually get stuck on a dew.

Jason

 

[Pyro]

I never really considered them as pests, I kind of like the fact that they are around in my collection cause they eat all the dead leaves and keep fungus levels down. And while I have never seen one being eaten by my plants I don't doubt that it is possible

 

[Colieo]

Personally, I do find them annoying, but I belive that they are useful food items for my genlisea, droseras, pings, and just about whatever is around. You probably already have them, but they are most likely still too small. Just wait a while, and they should be visible. I doubt anyone who has any of them in their pots asked for the little bugs to take up residence; they seem to be a creature that just shows up.


Cole

 

[Darcie]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Pyro @ Feb. 25 2003,03:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Actually they are little gray/brown/black/silver/other drab colour insects that feed on detritus. Only real bad infestations would result in feeding on live matter[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Really, oh wait... we are dealing with a large group of insects so their are probubly some that do both... still, I'm getting out my insect books at home this weekend.

Oh, my bad. Ick, this is freaky how I got this group confused with another, I really need to brush up on my entomology (bad Darcie, no more avoiding reviews *smack*) 

The main this about this group of insects is that their abdomin curls under letting them use their cerci like a spring board, lol

 (your right, I forgot most were grey, what was I thinking )

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

I have them, and I believe they are actually good things. The are housekeepers as Pyro mentions. My droserae feed on them over the winter, so they are welcome.

 

[Vic Brown]

Springtails are primitive insects in the insect order Collembola. Most, but by no means all, species possess the ventral jumping organ (the furcula) which gives this group their common name. There are a few species which attack plants, but I've never heard of them being a problem with CPs, the vast majority feed on micro-organisms, especially fungi.

I have them in the soil of most of my CPs as well as being house-keepers, they provide a useful food source for small Drosera seedlings and the plants from sprouting gemmae.

I wouldn't worry about them, but neither would I go to the trouble of importing them from another region as plant food. They could escape into a non-native environment and compete with those which occur naturally in your area. I'm sure many of the common types found in plant composts have been spread all over the globe by now though.

Vic