Anyone know what these are?

christine

christine

Active member
The video is public, no reason why anyone shouldn't be able to see it.

Scale is proper tiny - probably 2-3mm in length each.

I'll send an email Nick, thanks  (y)

Here's a picture to be going on with...

 
christine

christine

Active member
Maj said:
Is there any thing on this site http://www.cambriancavingcouncil.org.uk/cavelife/wales/millipedes_insects.html  that might shed some light (pun intended) on them?

Maj.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link  :)
They looked probably most similar to the springtail at the top of the first picture, but the blurb suggests that they don't move much - these were wriggling around a lot - I guess the best way to describe it was like looking at microscopic bacteria reproducing (except these were the same in number).
Visible to the naked eye but still tiny (I think they were more like 1mm on reflection, not 2 or 3..)
 
Les W

Les W

Active member
From the Springtails section of the Cave Life website:

Deeper underground the blind, white, rod shaped, sluggish Oligaphorura (=Onychiurus) schoetti (1.7mm) might be seen on pool surfaces with the more active Isotoma sp.. Oligaphorura schoetti is a true troglophile and all records are from caves where it is quite common.
Click to expand...
 
Pete K

Pete K

Well-known member
Eerie, seen something very similar in Peak Cavern today. Bit bigger at approx 10mm. Little shrimp in the pool by Lumbago Walk.
Not seen them here before despite being told a few times. Apologies if this is entirely unrelated!


Lumbago Pool shrimp by Peak Instruction, on Flickr
 
christine

christine

Active member
With a bit of squinting (use macro next time  ;) they look like niphargus.

You get bombarded by thousands of them in - guess what, Niphargus Niche - in OFD Dip Sump.
 
N

NigelG

Member
I can't view the videa either but that may be the way my own 'confuser' is set up...

The "rice on speed" are spring-tails (Collembola sp) but I don't enough cave-biology to identify the species. They are primitive, wingless aquatic or semi-aquatic insects that I think browse on bacterial growths or organic detritus. I don't know why the ones you photographed were behaving as they were - mating "swarm" perhaps?

The genus is quite common in UK caves but that's not to say you might have had the luck to observe a new species!
 
pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
I've seen white shrimps about 1cm long in static sections of Speedwell too - they seem perfectly comfortable there.
 
kay

kay

Well-known member
NigelG said:
I can't view the videa either but that may be the way my own 'confuser' is set up...

The "rice on speed" are spring-tails (Collembola sp) but I don't enough cave-biology to identify the species. They are primitive, wingless aquatic or semi-aquatic insects that I think browse on bacterial growths or organic detritus. I don't know why the ones you photographed were behaving as they were - mating "swarm" perhaps?

The genus is quite common in UK caves but that's not to say you might have had the luck to observe a new species!
Click to expand...

According to the experts on the facebook soil diversity page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/438740999565613/

"Tony Irwin 11 July 23:28
They look very like Folsomia candida, which is quite common in caves, but a specimen would be needed for positive identification."
 
Tommy

Tommy

Active member
A friend and I spotted something similar near Big Dig in December floating on fungus.
Your 'finds' could've been agitated by the bright light as ours appeared to be shortly after illumination.

Would be interesting to see what they are!

EDIT: Whoops, I was using the search feature and didn't notice this was an older thread, apologies.
 
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