# Springtails migrating?



## Roscoe09 (Dec 30, 2017)

I have a small vivarium seeded with springtails next to my created gecko tank (with no springtails). I just checked on the rubber plant in the gecko tank and noticed the little white bugs on the leaf litter. As well as little black bugs. And compared the bugs to my Springtail culture with my phone microscope(don’t judge ). And the results are they look almost identical. I never put any springtails in the gecko so I’m not confused. Can eggs ride in the air or something similar. I haven’t taken any thing out of little vivarium and put in the gecko vivarium. Thanks.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

A screen mesh slows a baby springtail down, about as much as a chain link fence slows down a fly. They can escape your viv, and get into the viv next to it. The standard, white springtails, are kings of invading other cultures. In addition, if you work on one viv, then the other, you can be giving them a ride into the next viv.

While they can escape, and get into other nearby cultures or vivs, they cannot live for long in a home's dryer invironment. If they can survive to infest your home, you should be more worried about the swamp in your living room.


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## Roscoe09 (Dec 30, 2017)

Okay thanks that good to know. I live in the drier desert of Colorado so a swamp won’t be a problem. Are there grey/black springtails? Because they look exactly like the tropical springtails. Thanks again.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I collected, isolated, and cultured a dusky gray springtail population I found here in Colorado. They reproduced well, but only at a humidity level a little lower than we keep our frog vivs. 
I also found a single, bright yellow springtail in Colorado. 

The Tomocerus springtail, referred to in the hobby as the giant springtail, (pink Sinella species is NOT the hobby's "giant springtail"), can be found in black. My old population of Tomocerus was mostly black, with a few being silvery, and a few being tan. 

Springtails exist in every pocket of the world. The springtails Hypogastrura harveyi and Hypogastrura nivicol, can even be found, alive and active, in the snow. Those 2 utilize a glycine-rich antifreeze protein to survive the winter's bitter cold. Look hard enough, and springtails can be found all around the world, in many colors and shapes.


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## Louis (Apr 23, 2014)

Tomocerus longicornis has been reclassified as Pogonognathellus longicornis now, I've been culturing these as well as the similar Pogonognathellus flavescens.
I've also found the P. flavescens active under snow.
Really amazing group of animals, I'd love to see some of the truly giant springtails from Australia and New Zealand.


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