Collembolan Fauna Research Articles

Two new species of Collembola (Arthropoda, Hexapoda) from Cova Urbana, a cave under a city

The Collembola fauna of the Cova Urbana located under the city of Tarragona (Spain) is studied, and the climatic characteristics of the cave, its partial geomorphology and its planimetry are presented. For the first time in this cave, some specimens of Collembola have been captured and studied, and two new species for science belonging to the genera Coecobrya and Pygmarrhopalites are described and illustrated. In addition, a specimen of the genus Arrhopalites probably belonging to another new species has been studied, but it could not be described because only one specimen was available. The presence of so few specimens and only four species is attributed to the absence of organic matter from percolation and detritus (oligotrophic cave).

Diversity and distribution of springtails (Collembola) from Jharkhand, India

This paper included the diversity and distribution of collembolan fauna in Jharkhand. A checklist of collembolan fauna from Jharkhand has been formulated. Endemic species from Jharkhand have also been reported. Affinities between species and habitat as well as another species of Collembola is basic character for diversity as well as distribution. Different types of methodologies have been deployed for collection from distinctive habitats. Climatic conditions are the limiting factor for species distribution and endemism. Lepidocyrtus is the most diverse and distributed genus. Isotomurus is the highest endemic genus. Some collembolan fauna from Jharkhand are prevailing only in this state while some are distributed in different biogeographic zone in world.

Collembola Diversity across Vegetation Types of a Neotropical Island in a River Delta

Springtails, vital for ecosystem assessment, are often overshadowed by taxonomy-focused research, which mostly neglects their ecology and distribution, particularly in the Neotropical Region. The objective of this study was to identify how environmental factors, especially vegetation types, affect the availability of food resources for epiedaphic Collembola and influence their diversity patterns in three vegetation types (riparian forest, mangrove, and restinga) in the Canárias Island, in Delta do Parnaíba Environmental Protection Area, Brazil (APADP). We collected samples along 200 m transects in each vegetation type during the dry and rainy seasons. After, specimens were sorted, counted and identified. Alpha (species richness, Shannon, Simpson, and Pielou indices) and beta diversity (Whittaker index) were analyzed, along with environmental factors’ influence through Redundancy Analysis (RDA). We sampled a total of 5346 specimens, belonging to three orders, eight families, 23 genera, 31 morphospecies, and one nominal species. Species abundance was positively influenced by soil moisture, plant richness, and leaf litter. The riparian forest sheltered a higher species richness and diversity, and its biotic and abiotic factors likely enhanced the food resource availability, including vegetal organic matter, fungi, and bacteria. These results provide the first taxonomic and ecological data on the Collembola fauna in the APADP.

Ecological characteristics of collembola and soil chemical attributes in different phytophysiognomies

Collembola is considered one of the most representativ groups of edaphic fauna. Its representatives have a wide distribution in the most varied types of soil and exert a significant influence on the microbial ecology of the soil, nutrient cycling and soil fertility. The study sought to analyze the chemical characteristics of the soil with the taxonomic richness and abundance of the Collembola fauna in the phytophysiognomies of primary forest, oil palm plantation and agroforestry system, in the municipality of Santa Barbara, Pará. Four field trips were carried out, with an area of 50x25 m being determined, with 12 sampling points, where pitfall traps were installed, which totaled 144 samples. The samples were preserved in 70% alcohol, and the springtails were quantified and identified at the family level. For the chemical characterization of the soil, a total of 108 samples were obtained with laboratory determination for each phytophysiognomy of pH, Al, Ca, Mg, K, P, N, Corg, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, CTC, SB, Cmicrob., Hmicrob., and moisture. This indicates that the colembofauna is strongly influenced by the chemical attributes of the soil and by the different phytophysiognomies.

Studies on the effects of some physico-chemical parameters on the distribution of Collembola: A case study from Hooghly District, West Bengal

The study reflects the distribution pattern of collembolan fauna in four study sites of Hooghly district on fluctuation of soil parameters such as moisture, temperature, and pH. Seasonal impact on species number and composition has also been observed here. The ecological study of the Collembola about some physico-chemical parameters has not been studied so far in the district of Hooghly, West Bengal. The seasonal abundance of the Collembolan population depends on soil moisture, neutral pH and humic soil. We have encountered a total of 25 species under 17 genera from 13 subfamilies of 9 families under 3 orders. The analysis represents that the family Entomobryidae is the most dominant one (32%) followed by Paronellidae (20%) and Isotomidae (12%). The members of the genus Lepidocyrtus Bourlet, 1839 are abundant (46.69%) and species-rich. There is a spike in the number of individuals during the spring and Monsoon season, although few species show evenness throughout the seasons.

Checklist of Collembola (Hexapoda) from Iran, Part I: Poduromorpha

This article provides an annotated checklist of the Poduromorpha (Entognatha: Collembola), an Iran-based species recently collected from different habitats in Mazandaran province, based on the literature published between 2020 and 2022. The results of identification of recently collected materials indicated seven species, including Xenylla brevisimilis Stach, 1949, Ceratophysella succinea (Gisin, 1949) (Hypogastruridae), Pseudachorutes caramel, Kaprus, Weiner & Nevo, 2004, P. laricis Arbea & Jordana, 1989, Cryptonura anthrenoidea Ellis, 1976 (Neanuridae), Superodontella montemaceli Arbea & Weiner, 1992, and S. rotunda Kaprus, 2009 (Odontellidae), are new for Iranian Collembola fauna. The 138 species from 48 genera belong to seven families of Poduromorpha order along with the materials examined and distribution in the world and Iran are given.

An updated catalogue of the Collembola (Hexapoda) from Colombia and a perspective for unexplored richness.

An updated catalog of Collembola nominal species recorded in Colombia is herein provided, including two new records for the country: Entomobrya linda Soto-Adames, 2002 and Folsomides centralis (Denis, 1931), both found in Reserva Natural Mesenia - Paramillo (Antioquia Department). The data were obtained from the original descriptions, as well as secondary records surveyed until December 2022. I considered localities whose studies contained identification at generic level, but disregarded those who only contained records at family level. For each species, its type locality and general distribution were provided, in addition to the site of record in Colombia, which were plotted on a map. I also present the cumulative number of nominal species recorded and described from Colombia from 1929 to 2022. Colombia has now 38 nominal species (20 endemic) in 21 genera (one endemic, plus 19 without nominal species) and 16 families of Collembola distributed in 22 sites of the 11 departments and five regions. Of this total of families, Bourletiellidae, Collophoridae, Hypogastruridae and Sminthuridae only has generic records, no nominal species. Based on these data, an estimate of the species richness was made suggesting that at the current rate of species records, to recognize 231 to 250 more species (6-7 species every 10 years), it will take about 300 years, and even so this time will not be sufficient to unveil the real fauna of Collembola of the country. For that reason, these results suggest that the Collembola fauna from Colombia is still underestimated in relation to other countries from South America.

Interactions between winter temperatures and duration of exposure may structure Arctic microarthropod communities

The Arctic has a diverse terrestrial microarthropod fauna which overwinters in situ in soil and vegetation. This fauna is involved in key ecosystem processes, for example decomposition and pollination, and has tolerance to the Arctic’s winter conditions. However, the Arctic is undergoing rapid change. Svalbard is experiencing warming rates up to four times the global average as well as alterations in precipitation (quantity and form; snow or rain) and wind direction. These will modify the conditions experienced by the overwintering fauna. Since laboratory experiments often fail to capture the diversity of environmental stressors, we employed a manipulation experiment using the naturally accumulating snow pack to moderate soil winter soil temperatures, combined with an extended incubator treatment, to map the duration limits of naturally induced cold tolerance. We demonstrate that the Collembola fauna can tolerate temperatures of −25 °C but that, in areas devoid of snow accumulation and when soil temperatures dip below −30 °C there is significant mortality. Furthermore, we demonstrate that exposure to a further extended 12 month period at −6 °C, as a simple model of a situation where snow cover is not lost during the short Arctic summer, results in additional mortality with relatively few Collembola surviving. By contrast, while oribatid mites displayed similar survival over a natural winter as the Collembola, they were highly resistant to the extended exposure at −6 °C, with no additional mortality occurring. We also documented survival amongst other invertebrate groups, including Nematocera and Brachycera larvae, Hemiptera (Acyrthosiphon svalbardicum), Coleoptera (Isochnus flagellum), and Araneae (Linyphiidae). We conclude that snow depth and winter air temperatures interact to regulate soil microarthropod populations over local scales and therefore the functioning of the Arctic soil ecosystem. Moreover, the environmental changes currently being observed in polar regions will continue to modify this fauna and its local and micro-scale distribution.

No indication of methodological biases in tullgren and macfadyen extraction of edaphic microarthropods

Separating soil-dwelling microarthropods from their substrate is a fundamental procedure in soil zoological research. Although the earliest methods to automatically extract animals from soil were described more than a century ago, the efficiency of existing techniques is still open to debate. In this study, we mutually compared the performance of four methods of very different operation mode (active and passive extraction, and traps) to inspect for biases of either method. From a temperate grassland and a forest site, we collected the adult oribatid and collembolan fauna using a Tullgren extractor, a Macfadyen canister extractor, heptane flotation and pitfall traps. Between Tullgren and Macfadyen, we did not find substantial differences in group and species abundances, rarified species richness, body length distributions, and collembolan life form. Heptane flotation produced fewer individuals than the two active methods, but comparable patterns of species composition, body lengths and collembolan life form. Pitfall traps strongly underestimated abundance and species richness of Oribatida and of eu- and hemiedaphic Collembola, but caught high numbers of epedaphic individuals, and several epedaphic species that were missed by the other methods. In conclusion, our data indicated that the relative efficiency of the Tullgren and Macfadyen methods was high and estimates of abundance and species richness reliable. We suggest to complement the traditional soil coring with pitfall trapping to adequately represent the epedaphic collembolan species in the data.

Catalogue of Vietnamese springtails (Hexapoda, Collembola).

Based on what we believe is a complete survey of the previous literature, the citations of the collembola found in Vietnam are recorded. In total, the catalogue includes 350 species in 118 genera from 21families (69 dubious records). For each species the current name is indicated, as well as the basionym and main synonyms with the complete bibliographic reference, the records for different provinces and regions with the authorships, and the general distribution data. When necessary, taxonomic notes are added. The catalog includes 120 bibliographic references (up to December 2021). The main goal of this paper is to promote future studies on the collembolan fauna of Vietnam.

Biodiversity of collembola on green roofs: A case study of three cities in Belgium

Green roofs are often promoted as a mean to counter the negative environmental effects of urbanization on nature and to increase the amount of green space in cities. Green roofs often enhance aboveground biodiversity, especially herbivores and pollinators. However, if and in what way they support belowground biodiversity, and more specifically soil fauna, is rarely studied. Therefore, we evaluated the diversity of a dominant group of soil fauna, Collembola (springtails), on twelve extensive green roofs in three cities in Belgium (Antwerp, Ghent and Hasselt), over a one year period. The roofs differed in height above the ground, surface area, vegetation type, and age, i.e. time since construction. We analysed if these roof characteristics influenced species richness, abundance or diversity of Collembola. In total we found ten species of Collembola. Species richness was not higher on roofs that were larger (habitat area) or closer to the ground (isolation to surrounding soil), indicating that island-biogeographic theory is not applicable to species richness in our study system. However, significant differences in the mean number of individuals (abundance) were found between different months. Collembola taxonomical composition also varied between the roofs, but this variation could not be related to any of the measured roof variables. Roof communities were characterised by hemiedaphic life forms, preferring neutral to semi-moist conditions. Apart from the age of the roof that showed a positive significant impact on the abundance of Collembola present, our results suggested that the collembolan fauna showed no significant differences in abundance, species richness or diversity between roofs with different characteristics. However, we suggest that future studies are needed to investigate whether our findings are applicable to other groups of soil-living arthropods.

First record of Seira dowlingi (Wray, 1953) (Collembola, Entomobryidae, Seirinae) from China and mitogenome comparison with the New World specimens.

Here, the first record of Seira dowlingi from Asia is reported and its newly generated mitogenome is compared with Neotropical specimens. Molecular analyses were performed based on low-coverage whole-genome sequencing and the complete mitogenome was assembled using NovoPlasty. Our results show that the Chinese specimens have the same color pattern, chaetotaxy, and almost identical mitogenomes, differing only on three nucleotides located in protein-coding genes. A maximum-likelihood phylogeny based on 13 mitochondrial genes was made and the specimens similarity was confirmed, as well as its phylogenetic position. Considering the large geographic distance between the American and the Asiatic populations, we believe that the presence of S. dowlingi in China is a result of anthropogenic introduction. The data generated here can be useful for further phylogeographic studies related to Seirinae subfamily or Collembola fauna in general.

FIRST REPORT OF THE GENUS AETHIOPELLA HANDSCHIN, 1942 AND SPECIES FOLSOMIA INOCULATA STACH, 1947 (HEXAPODA, COLLEMBOLA) FROM IRAN

Collembola are a widespread and abundant group of arthropods with distribution all over the world. Collembola fauna is less well-known in the northern districts of Iran. This study was conducted to investigate the Collembola fauna in the forests of Mazandaran province, North Iran, during 2016. During this study, 13 genera and 9 species belonging to 6 families were found. The genus Aethiopella Handschin, 1942 and the species Folsomia inoculata Stach, 1947 are reported for the first time from Iran, with the genus Arrhopalites Borner, 1906 recorded for the first time from Mazandaran province.

Collembolan fauna of Duars region of Northern West Bengal and Shola grassland of Western Ghats

The present work is based on extensive survey made by the authors during November, 2015 to December, 2017, in plains of Darjeeling district, the whole of Jalpaiguri district and the upper region of Cooch Behar district in West Bengal state and Shola forests of Kalpetta range, Thirunelli range, Brahmagiri Peak, Chembra Peak, Banasura hills, Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary, Kurchermala peak, Manikunnamala hills of Wayanad district, Malabar Wild Life Sanctuary of Kozhikode district, Shola grassland of Ponmudi forest, Trivandrum district and Shola grass lands of Palghat districts of Kerala state. Collembolans commonly called spring-tails are entognathous, wingless hexapods. A total of 45 species of Collembola belonging to 23 genera under 9 families have been recorded from Duars Region of Northern West Bengal and Shola Grassland of Western Ghats, Kerala. All the species from Duars region of West Bengal are recorded for the first time from the state. Out of 30 species recorded from Shola grassland of Western Ghats, Kerala, 19 species are endemic to Kerala state.

Isotomurus graminis Fjellberg (Collembola: Isotomidae) new for Iran, key to Iranian species in genus with comment on the validity of photographic records

As part of a comparison of the collembolan fauna in soil of forest, grasslands and broadacre agriculture in north east Iran, several pale green specimens were found that complied with all characters of Isotomurus prasinus (Reuter, 1891) and keyed out as such in Potapov (2001) except that the body covering consisted of smooth mesochaetae and not ciliated chaetae as are present in prasinus according to Potapov (2001). On a more extensive examination of the recent literature, it was clear that the Iranian specimens belonged to the species Isotomurus graminis Fjellberg, 2007 described six years later. In his description, Fjellberg (2007) notes that some specimens of the new species could have previously been identified as I. prasinus in spite of having a different chaetotaxic covering. He also notes that, in a number of characters, it is identical with Isotomurus unifasciatus (Börner, 1901) but the colour differentiates them as this latter species usually has a broad, pigmented, longitudinal dorsal stripe.

Caracterização da fauna de Collembola em diferentes formações vegetais no município de Santa Bárbara, estado do Pará, Brasil

Collembola apresenta grande importância na ciclagem de nutrientes, sendo indicador da qualidade ecológica do solo. O presente estudo teve como objetivo determinar a abundância e a riqueza da fauna de Collembola nas fitofisionomias de floresta primária, plantação de dendê e sistema agroflorestal, no município de Santa Bárbara, Pará. Foram realizadas quatro expedições de coletas, duas na estação chuvosa e duas no período mais seco da região. As amostras foram obtidas através da armadilha de pitfall, totalizando 144 exemplares. A identificação e a obtenção de dados quantitativos da colembofauna foram feitas em nível de família. Nas fitofisionomias, foram coletados 86.770 espécimes de colêmbolos, classificados em 15 famílias. A maior abundância de colêmbolos foi registrada na floresta primária, com 19.245 espécimes no período chuvoso, enquanto no período menos chuvoso o destaque foi para a plantação de dendê, com 22.322 espécimes. Observou-se que a maior riqueza de famílias ocorreu no ambiente de floresta primária, sendo as mais representativas Paronellidae e Neanuridae, com, respectivamente, 17.145 e 9.545 espécimes. O estudo evidenciou a variabilidade na composição de famílias da colembofauna e gerou novas informações sobre a abundância e a riqueza dos grupos taxonômicos nas fitofisionomias estudadas.

High spatial turnover in springtails of the Cape Floristic Region

AbstractAimThe extraordinary diversity of plants across the Cape Floristic Region is characterized by considerable species turnover among sites. Phytophagous insects show similarly high turnover, but their patterns are closely coupled to those of their hosts. If the mechanisms underlying high plant turnover are not unique to plants, similar patterns of turnover should also be seen in non‐herbivorous arthropod groups. We tested this hypothesis using new data for the Collembola fauna of the Fynbos biome.LocationThe south‐western Cape, South Africa.TaxonSpringtails (Hexapoda: Collembola).MethodsWe sampled springtails from six sites over two seasons. Species richness was compared with expected values from other studies worldwide given the environmental characteristics of the sites sampled. Nestedness and turnover components of beta diversity were calculated and compared against beta diversity patterns of springtails across Europe.ResultsA total of 114 morphospecies from 14 families was collected. Species richness of Fynbos sites ranged from 14 to 31 species, which was not significantly different to that previously reported for non‐Fynbos locations and generally within expectations given the temperature, rainfall and productive energy of each site. Beta diversity was high across all pairwise comparisons of Fynbos sites and dominated by species replacement rather than assemblage nestedness. Relative to the distance between sites, Fynbos assemblages, with a median inter‐site distance of 140 km, showed beta diversity substantially higher than in European assemblages, which had a median inter‐site distance of 1,270 km.Main conclusionsAlpha diversity of Fynbos Collembola assemblages is in keeping with species richness expectations. By contrast, beta diversity is high given the small distances among sites and is characterized predominantly by species turnover. These patterns of unremarkable alpha diversity, but high turnover among sites are comparable to many Fynbos plant groups. The mechanisms giving rise to high beta diversity of the plants may also have led to high diversity in other taxa.

Collembola of the Campanet cave (Mallorca, Balearic Islands), with descriptions of new species of Pseudosinella (Entomobryidae) and Oncopodura (Oncopoduridae).

This paper documents the collembolan fauna of the Campanet cave, in the province of Mallorca (Balearic Islands). Sampling was carried out using pitfall traps baited with beer and checked every 15 days. The cave fauna included the following species: Coecobrya tenebricosa, Disparrhopalites patrizi, Entomobrya pazaristei, Neelus murinus and Dicyrtomina ornata. In addition, two new species were found and are described here: Pseudosinella grauae sp. nov. and Oncopodura siquierae sp. nov. The former is characterised by an unpigmented body, eyes absent, dorsal chaetotaxy R0R1R2001/31/0101+2, with accessory chaeta 's' on Abd IV; all claws with three teeth; posterior chaetae on labial triangle as M1, M2, r, E, L1, L2, all ciliated except for r, a smooth microchaetae and smooth remaining anterior labial chaetae. O. siquierae sp. nov is typified by an unpigmented body; eyes absent; PAO as a single small vesicle; Ant IV with four distal leaf‑shaped sensilla and a basal pointed cylindrical chaeta; dens with one proximal inner spine, one distal inner tooth and a large disto-external hook‑like spine; and mucro with four teeth, the basal one distinctly pointed.

Springtails (Collembola) in the Subpolar Landscapes of the Northern Hemisphere

An overview of previously published and new information on the collembolan fauna and assemblage structure in the polar desert zone is presented. So far, 71 springtail species from 37 genera and 11 families have been reliably recorded within the zone. Eleven species are added to the previously known fauna of Franz Josef Land, and the very north of Novaya Zemlya has been surveyed for the first time. Even the much better known fauna of Bolshevik Island, Severnaya Zemlya is enriched by 3 species. The known species richness of springtails of Ellef Ringnes Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is also increased from 8 to 13 species. Most genera except Folsomia and Hypogastrura include only 1, more rarely 2 species in each study region of the polar desert zone. Species with circumpolar distribution patterns comprise more than 60% of the total list, but only 10 species are common to all the three provinces; this obviously indicates a certain regional specificity. Besides, the faunas of different provinces (and regions within a province) vary markedly in the proportion of species with more southern distribution patterns. Nevertheless, the collembolan assemblages in all the three provinces of the polar desert zone are rather similar at the structural level, this being a direct consequence of the general depletion of the complexes against the background of high total abundance and less pronounced habitat specificity of the common species.

The springtails (Insecta: Collembola) fauna at different microhabitats of Bečići beach, Montenegro

Collembola fauna has been investigated at different microhabitats near the beach in Becici, Montenegro. Samples were collected from four locations: Hotel 'Tara', 'Sveti Toma' Church (St. Thomas), Hotel 'Naftagas' and 'Zelena Stena' (Green Rock). Each of the location presented different microhabitat: under the palm tree, cypresses tree, larch tree and white pine tree. Samples were taken in May and September 2015 and results presented as qualitative findings. Total number of 30 Collembola species was identified, classified into six families and 17 genera. Representatives of the family Hypogastruridae and Isotomidae were recorded at all of the studied sites, while representatives of the families: Naenuridae, Onychiuridae, Entomobryidae and Sminthuridae were present on some of locations. The biggest number of species and the highest Collembola population density was found at the Green Stone site, 24 species in total, microhabitat- white pine, and the smallest number of species, 6 on site 'St. Thomas' Church, microhabitat- cypresses trees.