Springtails Fossil range: Devonian - Recent
Isotoma sp. The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era spanning from to  million years ago. Isotoma is a common Genus of Springtails the Type genus of the family Isotomidae.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Hexapoda Class: Entognatha Order: Collembola Lubbock, 1870
Families [1]
Suborder Arthropleona Superfamily Entomobryoidea Entomobryidae Isotomidae Oncopoduridae Paronellidae Tomoceridae Superfamily Poduroidea Brachystomellidae Hypogastruridae Neanuridae Odontellidae Onychiuridae Poduridae Suborder Symphypleona Dicyrtomidae Katiannidae Sminthuridae Sminthurididae Bourletiellidae Arrhopalitidae

Springtails (Order Collembola) form the largest of the three orders of modern hexapods (along with the Protura and Diplura) that are no longer considered insects. Arthropods are Animals belonging to the Phylum Arthropoda (from Greek ἄρθρον arthron, " Joint " The subphylum Hexapoda (from the Greek for six legs) constitutes the largest (in terms of number of species grouping of Arthropods and includes the The Entognatha is a class of Ametabolous Arthropods which together with Insects makes up the hexapods. Sir John Lubbock 4th Baronet and 1st Baron Avebury, PC FRS ( 30 April 1834 &ndash 28 May 1913) English banker The family Entomobryidae contains the so-called "slender springtails" a group of Springtails characterised as having an enlarged fourth abdominal segment "Poduroidea" redirects here This is also the old name of Poduromorpha, when these were placed in the "Arthropleona" Poduridae This article is about the taxonomic rank for the sequence of species in a taxonomic list see Taxonomic order In scientific classification used The subphylum Hexapoda (from the Greek for six legs) constitutes the largest (in terms of number of species grouping of Arthropods and includes the The Protura, or proturans, and sometimes nicknamed coneheads are an order of hexapods previously regarded as insects and sometimes treated as The order Diplura is one of the four groups of hexapods, alongside Insects Springtails and Protura. Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described The three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have internal mouthparts, but they do not appear to be more closely related to one another than to insects, which have external mouthparts. The Entognatha is a class of Ametabolous Arthropods which together with Insects makes up the hexapods. The mouthparts of Arthropods have evolved into a number of forms each adapted to a different style or mode of feeding Recent genetic studies suggest that Collembola are a separate evolutionary line from the other Hexapoda ^[2][3][4]. An evolutionary lineage is a sequence of Species, that form a line of descent each new species the direct result of speciation from an immediate ancestral species The subphylum Hexapoda (from the Greek for six legs) constitutes the largest (in terms of number of species grouping of Arthropods and includes the

Members of Collembola are normally less than 6 mm long, have six or fewer abdominal segments and possess an eversible tubular appendage (the collophore or ventral tube) projecting ventrally from the first abdominal segment. The Millimetre ( American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to Segmentation in biology refers to the division of some Metazoan bodies and Plant body plans into a series of semi-repetitive segments and the question of An appendage in the broadest sense is an additional or subsidiary part existing on or added to something which can generally still function if the appendage has never existed or A collophore is a tube-like structure on the ventral side of the first Abdominal segment of the body of a Collembolan It used to be believed that it served to stabilise Most species have an abdominal, tail-like appendage, the furcula, that is folded beneath the body to be used for jumping when the animal is threatened. The furcula is a tail-like appendage shaped like a fork found on the fourth abdominal segment of Springtails Present in most species it is used for jumping when It is held under tension by a small structure called the retinaculum and when released, snaps against the substrate, flinging the springtail into the air.

Suborder Arthropleona has an elongated body, while Symphypleona (without sensory fields on the body) and Neelipleona (with sensory fields) have a globular body.

Springtails are cryptozoa frequently found in leaf litter and other decaying material ^[5], where they are primarily detritivores and microbivores, and one of the main biological agents responsible for the control and the dissemination of microorganisms^[6]. Cryptozoa is the collective name for the small (generally Microscopic) Animals that permanently live under conditions with high relative humidity Plant litter (sometimes called leaf litter or tree litter) is dead Plant material such as leaves, Bark, and Twigs Detritivores, also known as detritus feeders or saprophages, are Heterotrophs that obtain Nutrients by consuming Detritus (decomposing A microorganism (also spelled micro organism or micro-organism and also called a microbe) is an Organism that is Microscopic (usually In sheer numbers, they are reputed to be one of the most abundant of all macroscopic animals, with estimates of 100,000 individuals per cubic meter of topsoil, essentially everywhere on Earth where soil and related habitats (moss cushions, fallen wood, grass tufts, ant nests) occur; only nematodes, crustaceans, and mites are likely to have global populations of similar magnitude, and each of those groups is of a higher taxonomic rank (nematodes are a phylum, crustaceans a subphylum, and mites are a subclass). Mosses are small soft Plants that are typically 1–10  cm (0 Wood is hard fibrous lignified structural tissue produced as secondary Xylem in the stems of Woody plants notably trees but also shrubs Grass is the common word that generally describes Monocotyledonous green Plants The family Gramineae ( Poaceae) are the "true grasses" and include Ants are social Insects of the family Formicidae and along with the related families of Wasps and Bees belong to the order The nematodes or roundworms ( Phylum Nematoda from Greek (nema "thread" + -ode "like" are one of the most common Structure of crustaceans As Arthropods crustaceans have a stiff Exoskeleton, which must be shed to allow the animal to grow ( Ecdysis or molting Mites, along with Ticks belong to the subclass Acarina (also known as Acari and the class Arachnida Mites are among the most diverse and successful A phylum ( Plural: phyla) is a Taxonomic rank between Kingdom and above Class. In life a subphylum is a Taxonomic rank intermediate between phylum and superclass. A class is the Taxonomic rank in the Biological classification of organisms in Biology below phylum and above order. Most springtails are small and difficult to see by casual observation, but one species, Hypogastrura nivicola (the so-called snow flea), is readily observed on warm winter days when it is active and its dark color contrasts sharply with a background of snow. Snow fleas ( Hypogastrura nivicola) are a species of Springtail.

In addition, a few species routinely climb trees and form a dominant component of canopy faunas, where they may be collected by beating or insecticide fogging. These tend to be the larger (>2mm) species, mainly in the genera Entomobrya, Orchesella and Lepidocyrtus, though the densities on a per square metre basis are typically 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than soil populations of the same species. A very few species (e. g. Anurophorus spp. , Entomobrya albocincta) are almost exclusively arboreal.

Various sources and publications have suggested that some springtails may parasitize humans, but this is entirely inconsistent with their biology, and no such phenomenon has ever been scientifically confirmed, though it has been documented that the scales or hairs from collembolans can cause irritation when rubbed into the flesh ^[7]. Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between Organisms of different Species. They can sometimes be abundant indoors in damp places such as bathrooms and basements[2], and under such circumstances may be found on one's person, but this is only accidental. Claims of persistent human skin infection by springtails indicate delusory parasitosis, a psychological not entomological problem. Delusional parasitosis also known as delusory parasitosis and delusory cleptoparasitosis, is a form of Psychosis or false belief a "loss of contact However Hopkin^[8] reports one instance of an entomologist aspirating an Isotoma species and accidentally inhaling some of their eggs, which hatched in his nasal cavity and made him quite ill until they were flushed out. An aspirator, also called an Eductor-jet pump or filter pump is a device that produces Vacuum by means of the Venturi effect.

The main ecological factor driving locally the distribution of species is the vertical stratification of the environment: a continuous change in species assemblages can be observed from tree canopies to ground vegetation then to plant litter down to deeper soil horizons^[9]. Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region it refers to the Ground cover provided by plants Plant litter (sometimes called leaf litter or tree litter) is dead Plant material such as leaves, Bark, and Twigs A soil horizon is a specific layer in the Soil which measures parallel to the soil surface and possesses physical characteristics which differ from the layers above and

References

External links

• Collembola (TSN 99237). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Integrated Taxonomic Information System ( ITIS) is a partnership designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the Taxonomy of biological Species
• Maps of Collembola (Britain and Ireland) also Photolibrary
• General information on Collembola]
• Site by Frans Janssens, information on biology and evolution, an image gallery, a glossary of terms, and a checklist of world species
• The Biology of the Collembola
• Tree of Life
• The Springtails (Collembola) of South Africa
• North American Collembola

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