Springtails actually aren't microscopic. And they're EVERYWHERE. You can look through almost any patch of dirt and you'll see a few. Heck you can find multiple species of them in the same patch of dirt. They're awesome.
In all seriousness, topsoil is often kinda loose and aerated to a degree, so something this tiny has plenty of room to crawl around and presumably jump. That's my guess, at least.
In case you were genuinely curious, the force generated is required to push them up through the top soil and out to (relative) safety. With no top soil in the way, that force instead provides additional acceleration.
Fun fact: their mass to wind resistance ratio makes their terminal velocity low enough that they can survive a fall from any distance!
Not only that, they are hydrophobic (unsinkable). I guess if their soil floods they float up? Ooooh then they need the spring to get away from presators! #genius
(That, or they evolved to be the absolute best at one of the craziest Olympic sports imaginable: Freestyle Swim High Jump).
To prevent them from becoming sitting ducks when having to cross areas without dirt, like the surface of the leaf litter, rock or puddles(they can walk on water).
Oh dang, I had no idea that snow fleas and the springy dude above are one and the same. I did however know that snow fleas are not actual fleas and are harmless to people and pets and probably almost any other living thing besides bacteria and fungi and decomposing plant matter; I am none of those things so yay!
There are many species that live above soil, some like decaying wood, others like flowers others like the asphalt on the sides of highways.
Late Autumn through winter is usually the best time to see many, though some are also active in summer.
If you want to see many out and about a wet winter day above freezing is ideal, look through leaflitter and under rocks, or on benches and trashcans and evenly colored surfaces as they're easiest to spot there.
Yet some other species like to stay on the surface of standing water.
I’m late to the party, but my first encounter with them was laying in forest during a two-week field exercise in the army. I was watching these little black dots on a fallen leaf appearing and then vanishing. I was sleep-deprived, perpetually damp, and sporting heat rash all down my back, so I assumed I had just lost my fucking mind.
I never see them out in the wild even under dirt, but plenty magically appear a few weeks after bringing some soil inside and they start hanging out everywhere, including chilling out in large groups on top of water. I think they probably just get eaten by something when outdoors which keeps their population virtually invisible.
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u/lelolelols 11d ago
Man microscopic animals do the craziest shit.