What is the most numerous animal on Earth? Not counting microscopic animals it is reputed to be springtails like this one. This one is Vertagopus arboreus and lives on the trunks of trees and has a taste for rotting wood. I found this one on a broken tree in the snowdrop wood last Saturday. I don't know why but seeing some insects again felt good. With seeing so many beautiful creatures last year, many of them for the first time, I couldn't help but get excited about the year ahead. When the temperature increases the land will again be a giant zoo for these tiny animals. This one pushed the bigascope to the limit. From the tip of its antenna to the end of its abdomen the insect above is only as long as a single hair on a bumbleebee's head is wide. We are talking microns long. They were almost invisible to the naked eye.
And here is one in ultra slow motion.
This one is a Entomobrya albocincta and is distinctive because of its three yellow stripes. All of these animals have a pair of spring mounted appendages under their abdomens which can propel the insects away from threats.
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