‘Podgy’ Springtails (Poduromorpha)

It’s very difficult not to find something endearing about the slow-moving and rather cumbersome little Poduromorpha. They tend to be soil and litter-dwelling, however some species put their amazingly hydrophobic (water-repelling) cuticles to work and live on the surface of slow-moving bodies of water. Some species have lost their springing organ completely, and some have developed rather curious anal spines. The soil-living ones can be a bit nondescript - smooth, podgy, white little bleps (I find the Poduromorpha the hardest springtails to identify to species), however there are many other characteristic species that have long, dense setae, ornate sculpturing and vivid pigmentation. If you’re very lucky, sometimes you’ll turn over a log or stone and find a big group of Poduromorphs who have congregated together en masse, following pheromone cues.