Often I am so far down the path of the worst case scenario that I forgot other possibilities exist--much better ones. Without the knowledge of the better or best case scenarios, my internal world is often dark and gloomy.
Yesterday I got the assurance from Erica at TMX that the "jumping" insect is springtail (scientific name Collembola), not fleas as I originally assumed and feared. Immediately I feel relieved. And the clouds that hoover over me are nowhere to be seen. "What you told me has made my day!" I told her. Thank God!
Even though they have a nickname of "snow fleas", springtails don't bite human and don't transmit diseases. "Nuisance," says one website. "They are nearly always good guys," says another.
I learned a lesson. Do not loose sight of the best hope. And take actions to find out--that's how one can be insightful.
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Article from http://www.newsweb.ca/Nature_Reflections_Snow_Fleas.htm
Snow Fleas
We call small, dark insects that sometimes appear on the snow in late winter or early spring “snow fleas”, but these wingless, ‘jumping’ insects are not really fleas but Springtails. At other times of the year unless you undertake to look closely for them you will not notice them, but there are 2000 species of springtails in the world with over 300 species found in North America.
Actually snow fleas or springtails don’t jump - they flip, which they do with the aid of a fork-like structure called a furcula situated on the underside of the body behind the legs. It is folded forward and held in place by a catch, and when the catch is released the tiny insect goes catapulting through the air.
Springtails are found by the billions in soil and decomposing vegetation. They are probably, next to mites, the most abundant land animal with legs. Every rotting log in the forest will probably contain thousands of them. There are probably thousands in your compost heap. They are very efficient recyclers, converting waste plant material into humus, but most are only as big as a comma in this sentence, and most people never see them.
What feeds on them? Mites, pseudoscorpions, spiders and beetles, and as well swarms of Marsh Springtails are eaten by fishes, frogs and ducks. Some species are found living on the bark of trees in winter in numbers larger than any other group - do Brown Creepers eat them? Not known!
The springtails called the snow fleas (Achorutes nivicolus) often swarm on the surface of the snow on warm winter days, forming dark patches. Yet likely they are active all winter long protected by an insulating blanket of snow. It is as the lower levels of snow become saturated with water that the snow fleas crawl or swim upward to an oxygen supply, and assemble by thousands in sheltered depressions in the snow.
The snow flea is really dark blue, with short antennae and 16 minute eyes in clusters on each side of the head. Their eggs are scattered in holes in soil in late spring. Nymphs feed during summer, maturing in early winter. Adults emerge on warm days in late winter, and again in early spring when they mate. If you find a congregation of snow fleas, take a good look at them - all the flipping and bouncing makes it look like a circus performance. But they are harmless, and usually a sign that spring is not far away.
Observations: Erlene Lee, Wagner Road, had a ‘gaily wrapped’ Christmas sighting of a male Northern Cardinal on Christmas day. Shirley Peruniak saw about 25 Cedar Waxwings in Sharbot Lake on Jan 7. Heidi Lind on Bunker Hill Road reports about 6 American Goldfinches a few days ago, and has been enjoying a Brown Creeper for the last couple of weeks. June Miller, in Sharbot Lake, also has had about 6 American Goldfinches over the last week and a half, and had an American Robin on New Year’s Day. Hilda Baker in Harlowe had a Robin on Jan 9, and reports 1 Redpoll on Jan 6. Share what you have seen, phone Jean Griffin at 268-2518.
http://www.newsweb.ca/Nature_Reflections_Snow_Fleas.htm
Snow Fleas
We call small, dark insects that sometimes appear on the snow in late winter or early spring “snow fleas”, but these wingless, ‘jumping’ insects are not really fleas but Springtails. At other times of the year unless you undertake to look closely for them you will not notice them, but there are 2000 species of springtails in the world with over 300 species found in North America.
Actually snow fleas or springtails don’t jump - they flip, which they do with the aid of a fork-like structure called a furcula situated on the underside of the body behind the legs. It is folded forward and held in place by a catch, and when the catch is released the tiny insect goes catapulting through the air.
Springtails are found by the billions in soil and decomposing vegetation. They are probably, next to mites, the most abundant land animal with legs. Every rotting log in the forest will probably contain thousands of them. There are probably thousands in your compost heap. They are very efficient recyclers, converting waste plant material into humus, but most are only as big as a comma in this sentence, and most people never see them.
What feeds on them? Mites, pseudoscorpions, spiders and beetles, and as well swarms of Marsh Springtails are eaten by fishes, frogs and ducks. Some species are found living on the bark of trees in winter in numbers larger than any other group - do Brown Creepers eat them? Not known!
The springtails called the snow fleas (Achorutes nivicolus) often swarm on the surface of the snow on warm winter days, forming dark patches. Yet likely they are active all winter long protected by an insulating blanket of snow. It is as the lower levels of snow become saturated with water that the snow fleas crawl or swim upward to an oxygen supply, and assemble by thousands in sheltered depressions in the snow.
The snow flea is really dark blue, with short antennae and 16 minute eyes in clusters on each side of the head. Their eggs are scattered in holes in soil in late spring. Nymphs feed during summer, maturing in early winter. Adults emerge on warm days in late winter, and again in early spring when they mate. If you find a congregation of snow fleas, take a good look at them - all the flipping and bouncing makes it look like a circus performance. But they are harmless, and usually a sign that spring is not far away.
Observations: Erlene Lee, Wagner Road, had a ‘gaily wrapped’ Christmas sighting of a male Northern Cardinal on Christmas day. Shirley Peruniak saw about 25 Cedar Waxwings in Sharbot Lake on Jan 7. Heidi Lind on Bunker Hill Road reports about 6 American Goldfinches a few days ago, and has been enjoying a Brown Creeper for the last couple of weeks. June Miller, in Sharbot Lake, also has had about 6 American Goldfinches over the last week and a half, and had an American Robin on New Year’s Day. Hilda Baker in Harlowe had a Robin on Jan 9, and reports 1 Redpoll on Jan 6. Share what you have seen, phone Jean Griffin at 268-2518.
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