The Collembola or springtails (0.5-8mm) are wingless insects with 6 legs, distinct head, 1 pair of 4-segmented antennae, 6 abdominal segments, no true compound eyes, with a ventral tube used for sucking up water, for respiration and for adhesion, and usually a jumping organ at the tail end called a furcula. They are very small to see but occur in great numbers in soil habitats and greenhouses and on water surfaces, and even up in tropical trees. They are more abundant in cold climates. In fact, the colder the temperature the greater their numbers. They have been found at 21,000 ft. on Mt. Everest and there is even one species that has been found in Antarctica. On the other extreme, there is a species in Hawaii that lives in volcanic vents at temperatures of 130 deg.F.
 Most are colored white to gray to blue but there are species that can be green to yellow to reddish brown. They eat decaying vegetation, fungi, round worms, rotifers and, in turn, they themselves become prey to mites, ants and various beetles and other insects.
 The following checklist for Vermont has been compiled by Peter Bellinger (1982) and represents material from only 8 counties in the state therefore, much more work still remains to be done on Vt. Collembola. Most of the identified collection on this list is in the Zadock Thompson Collection at UVM
 

PODURIDAE
	Podura aquatica L.
ONYCHIURIDAE
	Onychiurus (Archaphorura) affinis   Agren.
	O. (Protaphorura) armatus (Tull.)
	O. (P.) sarvicornis Mills
	O. (P.) subtenuis Fols.
	O.(Onychiurus ) folsomi (Schf.)
HYPOGASTRURIDAE
	Hypogastrura (H.) horneyi   (Fols)
	H. (H.) lima Christiansen & Bellinger
	H.(H.)  nivicola (Fitch) = "snow flea"
	H. (H.) packardi (Fols)
	H. (Ceratophysella) denticulata (Bagn.)
	H. (Mitchellania) hiawatha (Yosii)
	H. (M.) loricata   Yosii
	Freisea sublimus   (Mcn.)
	Pseudochorutes aureofasciatus (Harv.)
	P. simplex (Mayn.)
	Anurida (A.)granaria (Nicol)
	A.(Micranurida) pygmaea (Barn.)
	Neanura muscorum (Templ.)
ENTOMOBRYIDAE
	Orchesella cincta (L)
	O. hexfasciata (Harv.)
	O. vilosa (L)
	Entomobrya (Entomobrya) assuta Fols.
	E. (E.)  multifasciata (Tull.)
	E. (E.) nivalis (L.)
	E. (Entomobryoides) purpurascens (Pack)
	Willowsia nigromaculata (Lubb)
	Lepidocyrtus helenae Snider
	L. pallidus Reut.
	L. paradoxus    Uzel.
	L. violaceus (Four.)
	L. lanuginosus Gmelin
	Pseudosinella rolfsi Mills
	Tomocerus ( pogonognathellus) elongatus Mayn.
	T. (P.)  flavescens (Tull.)
ISOTOMIDAE
	Proisotoma (Ballistura) alpa C&B
	Cryptopygus thermophilus (Axel)
	Folsomia penicula Bagn.
	Metisotoma grandiceps (Reut.)
	Isotomiella minor      (Schf.)
	Isotomurus palustris (Mull)
	I. tricolor (Pack)
	Isotoma (Desoria) nigrifrons Fols.
	I. (D.) notabilis (Schf.)
	I. (D.) propinqua Axel.
	I. (D.)  tariva Wray
	I. (Isotoma). veridis Bourl.
	I. (Pseudisotoma) sensibilis Tull.
NEEDLIDAE
	Neelus (Megathorax ) minimus Fols.
	N. (Neelides) minutus    Fols.
SMINTHURIDAE
	Sminthurides (S.) lepus Mills
	Sminthurinus (Katiannina) macgillivrayi (Banks)
	S. (Sminthurinus) henshawi (Fols.)
	S. (S.) quadrimaculatus (Ryd.)
	Bourletiella (B.) hortensis (Fitch)
	Sminthurus (S.) butcheri Snider
	Dicyrtoma (Ptenothris) atra (L)
	D. (P.) marmorata (Pack)

References:

Bellinger, P. F.  1982. Collembola from Vermont, Entomological News 93(5): 180-182.
Borrer, D. J.   & D. M. DeLong 1971.  An Introduction to the study of Insects, 3 rd. Ed. Holt,
     Rinehart & Winston Inc. New York, 812 pp.
Christiansen, K. 1992. Springtails. In The Kansas School Naturalist 39(1): 3-15.
Christiansen, K. & P. Bellinger 1980. The Collembola of North America, north of the Rio
    Grande, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, 1322 pp.
Dindal, D. L. Ed. 1990. Soil Biology Guide, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1349 pp.
 
 

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