Category: Springtails

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Grey Springtails in my Onicus Asellus Culture

Tomocerus sp

Grey Springtails

I noticed some grey things jumping around in my Onicus Asellus culture today.  I have had an odd morph of Onicus Asellus that I have been breeding and I was looking for babies when I noticed a couple of hundred grey things jumping round.  I have white and pink springtails but never had dark grey so I thought they were fleas at first.

It turns out that they are grey springtails called Tomocerus sp..  They also seem to breed well in the culture.

My original Onicus Asellus culture cam from Thompson Park in Monroe Township, NJ so the springtails must have hitched a ride with them when I found them in October of 2017.

I have a short video of the springtails and the isopods that I was talking about above.

 

 

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How to Culture Temperate Springtails

springtails

Springtails

Folsomia candida

(Collembola)

Springtails are arthropods.  They are soil swelling insects that feed upon decaying organic matter in soil.  They help break down dead and decaying matter.

They are a great food for Dart Frogs, fish and other small amphibians and reptiles.  They are very easy to culture as long as you keep them clean and watch for signs of culture crashing, mold or mites.

We culture out Springtails on activated charcoal and lump charcoal.  We feed our Springtails brewers yeast and a few small amounts of grains.  We grow many thousands of springtails in each culture and we also sell cultures.  Of regular white temperate springtails, pink springtails and tropical springtails.  The tropical variety are great for any terrarium that requires high temperatures.

Check out our video which will walk you through the culturing process.  Also check out the links below to get the things that you will need to culture your own springtails at home.