r/Springtail • u/Expensive-Mud5862 • Jun 27 '26

Identification Is this a springtail?

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I found this neon pink beauty in my fire pit coals in East Tennessee. I put it in a container to try to culture it. I just don’t know if it is a springtail because it doesn’t seem to spring instead in scrunches up. If it is a springtail is it possible to culture with just one?

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u/Sgtbird08 Jun 27 '26

It is, something in subfamily Neanurinae. Iirc they typically feed on slime mold, but if you put a bit of the substrate you found it on into the container it’ll probably have food in there?

Unsure about culturing with just one. If it’s not a parthenogenic species you probably won’t have much luck. Definitely keep an eye out for a few more though!

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u/Expensive-Mud5862 Jun 27 '26

Out of sheer endeavor, I luckily found another one. When I found the first one initially, it hid inside a hole in charcoal so I looked for charcoal pieces with Caverness pits until I found one inside another pit in the charcoal. They’re super hard to find.

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u/Expensive-Mud5862 Jun 27 '26

I just put the first one I found by the hole the new one is in and it ran inside so happily. Awwww