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Non-Insect Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda, kingdom Animalia, domain Eukaryota)
These taxonomic classifications fascinate me. It takes humans, dogs, primates, moles, tapirs and mice, among many others, to make up a single class (Mammalia), but just centipedes to make another, and just springtails to make up yet another!
Elongate-bodied Springtails (Suborder Arthropleona, class Collembola, subphylum Hexapoda)
Springtails are actually the easiest animals to find, in my experience. If you lay a watering can on its side on the ground for a while and then turn it over, they will appear on top. There is a lot of variety among species and/or life stages, although some (especially that represented in the first two photos) are much more common than others in this environment. They are generally very tiny, typically 1 mm long or less. NOTE: The classification Suborder Arthropleona is used by the Iowa State Entomology Department.
Lower taxa IDs are provided by Frans Janssen, since 1976,
member of the Royal Entomological
Society of Antwerp, Belgium; since 1998, laboratory associate of the
Department of Biology,
Evolutionary Biology Group, University of Antwerp, Belgium. He
demonstrates his expertise at
www.collembola.org.
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| Adult female and juvenile male springtails (Entomobrya atrocincta, family Entomobryidae), about 1 mm long, Durham, NC, 5/1/08 | Adult female springtail (Entomobrya atrocincta, family Entomobryidae), Durham, NC, 5/13/08, similar to the top springtail at left, but not quite: the tip of the abdomen is different. | Subadult male springtail (Entomobrya atrocincta, family Entomobryidae), Durham, NC, 5/9/08. | Springtail (Tomocerus genus (maybe), Tomoceridae family), Durham, 6/30/08. This springtail was 2 or 3 mm long. |
Centipedes (class Chilopoda)
Scutigeromorpha order
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| I think this might be a member of a species of House Centipede |
Scolopendromorpha order
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| Centipede, Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC, 11/03/07 | Rural Chatham County, NC, 11/9/05. This very tiny centipede appeared under the bark of a dying tree. |
Millipedes (class Diplopoda)
Times have changed! I used to see Roly-polies (Pill Millipedes, order Glomerida) all the time, and now I can't remember the last time I saw any.
Spirobolida order
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| Millipede (Narceus americanus, family spirobolidae), Durham, 8/4/06 | Millipede (Spirobolida order), Southern Village walking path, Orange County, NC, 7/20/07. The fly on top of the millipede followed it, landing in various different places on the millipede. | Eno River State Park, Old Cole Mill Road access, 11/7/05. This tiny probably immature millipede looked like a land-based Tubifex worm at a distance. |
Polydesmidae order
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| Millipede (Sigmoria aberrans, family Xystodesmidae, Johnston's Mill Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC, 8/25/05. This millipede species is found only in North Carolina and Virginia. They pop up in my neighborhood in Durham regularly but infrequently. | Millipede, Polydesmida order, Durham, NC, 11/9/07. At first glance, it looks like a centipede, though. |
Harvestmen (order Opiliones, class Arachnida)
We used to call these "Daddy-long-legs" when I was a kid, but now that name is properly applied only to spiders.
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| Harvestman with prey, NC Botanical Garden, 7/2/05. |
Mystery Arthropods
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| Carolina Beach State Park, New Hanover County, NC, 12/12/05. | Durham, 12/19/05. Probably ½ inch long. |
© 2005 Dorothy E. Pugh