Springtail

How to tell it apart

• Tiny — usually under 2 mm, often described as specks of moving dust
• Jumps suddenly and erratically when disturbed, several centimetres at a time
• Grey, white, purple or iridescent depending on species
• No wings, and six legs on a soft plump body
• Appears in numbers around anything reliably wet

Where you’ll find it

Everywhere. Springtails are among the most abundant animals on earth by number.

Damp soil, potted plants, bathrooms, basements, around leaking pipework and in the film on wet surfaces.

How it behaves

The jump is the identifying behaviour and it is not done with the legs. A springtail carries a forked appendage clipped under the abdomen; releasing it flicks the animal into the air, which is why the movement is so sudden and so uncontrolled. They graze on mould, algae and decaying matter, which is exactly why they concentrate where something has stayed wet — they are eating what grows there. Keepers deliberately culture them as terrarium cleanup crews for the same reason.

You’ve found one indoors

Fix the damp and they leave. Overwatered houseplants, a leaking trap, a failed bathroom seal or a wet basement wall account for nearly every indoor case. Insecticide is pointless — they are not eating anything you own and they will return while the moisture remains.

Common questions

Commonly confused with

• Silverfish Harmless

Keep identifying

Identify another animal from a photo or return to the Other guide.

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