Into the Ice Cave

I found this little thing -- less than 2 mm. long -- crawling around in the snow. In this shot, it's investigating tiny holes and crevasses in partly-melted snow on a fallen oak leaf.

Many people have seen these little critters -- often called snow fleas -- without realizing they were animals. These little springtails, Hypogastrura nivicola (Order Collembola) look a lot like tiny bits of mold or soil, and in the winter they look like dust or tiny bits of plant matter that has fallen on the snow -- until you notice that one bit of "dirt" suddenly disappears and magically appears somewhere else. Using a forked appendage under their body that clings to a tiny stump, and then is "flicked" downward, they propel themselves into the air at invisible speed.

Scientists have discovered unique proteins in them that act as anti-freeze, preventing crystallization of their bodies in sub-freezing temperatures.

I posted a wider shot of this arthropod (not an insect, even though it has six legs) in the Weekly Challenge Gallery HERE.

Canon 5DII
Sigma 150 Macro + 1.4X TC
1/5 sec. @ f/18: ISO 2500
Tripod