u/ANT_ERTAIN

A carpet of Yuukianura aphoruroides… with a few unwanted guests 👀
At first glance, this culture looks pretty great – basically a living carpet of Yuukianura aphoruroides (“Yuukis”). 🟠
But if you look closely, you’ll notice a few white tropical springtails running between them.
A good reminder of just how easily cultures can become mixed.
In my case, the reason was surprisingly simple: one ventilation opening wasn’t properly secured, and unfortunately this culture was sitting right next to an open terrarium containing those exact white springtails. 😅
Apparently, that was enough.
The Yuuki colony itself is doing extremely well, but I wouldn’t consider this particular culture “clean” anymore.
That’s also why I keep multiple independent cultures of important species and regularly check them for unwanted hitchhikers. It’s something I’m putting a lot of emphasis on with my TerraNidus cultures.
A huge colony is impressive – but keeping cultures clean and correctly separated is just as important.
Lesson learned: check your ventilation, don’t underestimate wandering springtails, and always keep backup cultures. 😅

Tetrodontophora bielanensis “Giant Blue Springtail” 🔵
Reaching up to around 9 mm, this species is considered the largest springtail in Europe. Its impressive size and distinctive blue-grey coloration make it very different from the springtails most people are used to seeing.
And this is just one of the many extraordinary springtail species at TerraNidus. 🔬

I started culturing Neanura muscorum myself, and the colony has developed extremely well. Captive-bred offspring are now reliably available from my culture.
This species thrives as a slime mold–feeding springtail and prefers a moist, well-structured setup. Similar to Neanuridae sp. “Santa Claus”, Neanuridae sp. “Jollibee” and Rambutanura sp. “Thai Red Spiky”, their eggs are clearly visible and are usually laid in small clusters.
They seem to prefer a very similar setup, although they also thrive surprisingly well on a humus-based substrate.
Their coloration is especially interesting. Some individuals appear intensely dark blue, while others show more yellowish tones. Combined with the blue pigmentation, this can create a beautiful blue-green appearance—which is why I use the culture name “Blue Moss”.

I just wanted to share a few macro shots of my Neanuridae sp. “Santa Claus”, also known in the hobby as “Redford White”.

I absolutely love the contrast between the deep red body and those bright white markings. They really do live up to the Santa Claus name. 😅🎅

But honestly, one of my favourite things about keeping them is watching them feed on slime mold. Seeing these tiny springtails slowly gather around it and eat is incredibly fascinating.

Definitely one of those species I can spend way too much time just watching. ❤️🔬

Does anyone else here keep Santa Claus Springtails?

Ich möchte einfach nur die beiden Fotos teilen da ich mir eine tolle Kamera ausgeliehen habe und mein schleimpilz so endlich mal zur Geltung kommt

I had to look twice when I first spotted one of these… and then I found three of them. 👀

All three came from my own Armadillidium flavoscutatum “Red Head” colony and show a very similar appearance: an extremely pale, almost milky/translucent body, while the head remains distinctly red. ❤️👻

The contrast looks absolutely incredible in person.
I’ve now decided to isolate all three and see if I can selectively breed and stabilise this appearance over the next generations.

For now, I’m calling the project “Red Head Ghost” – just a working name at this stage.
Really excited to see where this goes. 🔥

Has anyone here seen a similar phenotype in their Red Heads before?

I discovered these beautiful pill millipedes; can anyone identify them more precisely? I’m just calling them "ladybugs" for now because their colors and patterns remind me of a ladybug larva.

Hallo zusammen,

Ich habe diese kleinen Springschwänze in Deutschland gefunden. Sie leben in Moos zwischen Steinen. Die ausgewachsenen Tiere sind höchstens 1–1,25 mm lang. Sie sind bläulich-graublau und können springen.

Die letzten beiden Fotos zeigen sie auf 0,5 cm Millimeterpapier mit etwas Erde als Größenvergleich. Die Fotos zeigen dieselben Tiere/dieselbe Population.

Ich weiß, dass für eine sichere Artbestimmung bessere Makro- oder Mikroskopaufnahmen nötig wären, insbesondere für Details wie Augen, PAO, Furca, Mucro und Chaetotaxie. Ich frage mich aber, ob man sie zumindest einigermaßen sicher einer Familie zuordnen kann.

Meine aktuelle Vermutung ist:

Collembola → Poduromorpha → wahrscheinlich Hypogastruridae

Vielleicht etwas aus der Gattung Xenylla, aber ich bin mir sehr unsicher.

Erscheint die Familie Hypogastruridae anhand dieser Fotos, der Größe, des Lebensraums und des Sprungverhaltens plausibel? Oder wäre eine andere Familie wahrscheinlicher?

Ich wäre für jeden Hinweis dankbar.

Hey everyone,

I have some Yuukianura aphoruroides available, formerly often sold under names like Bilobella / Bilobella braunerae.

They are doing well in my culture, active, and show a really nice orange/red coloration.
Small groups are available, starting at €10, depending on group size. Safe live-animal transport is possible as well.

Also available:

Folsomia candida
Ceratophysella sp. “Yellow Albino”
Ceratophysella sp. “Lilac / Lilac Yellow Albino”
Neanura muscorum / “Slime eater”
Onychiuridae / Onychiurinae sp. “Snowflake”
Feel free to message me if you are interested or have any questions about the cultures. 😊

PN ME

ONLY EU

Ich habe mal ein paar meiner Yuukianura aphoruroides, also orangene Springschwänze, fotografiert.

Ich finde die Art besonders spannend, weil sie im dunklen Substrat viel sichtbarer ist als viele weiße Springschwänze. Dadurch sieht man die Mikrofauna im Terrarium auch wirklich mal arbeiten.

Mich würde interessieren:

Hält jemand von euch Yuukianura aphoruroides gezielt als Clean-up Crew im Terrarium?

Oder welche Springschwänze nutzt ihr am liebsten für bioaktive Setups?

Ich bin gespannt, ob ihr eher auf die klassischen weißen Springschwänze setzt oder bewusst auffällige Arten wie diese hier verwendet.