Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society

Springtail Report 2001 by David Scott-Langley

Recording of this group started in 2001 following the publication and distribution of a test version of an AIDGAP key by Steve Hopkin covering all the British species (and some that may eventually be found in this country), currently a list of 416 species. This is the first time such a complete key has been put together. in the past anybody working on this group has had to use keys from parts of Europe and North America covering individual families, thus needing a whole shelf of books and also having to sort through species not found here. No wonder so few people have done any local work! The new key has been tested over the last 18 months and is now being revised for final publication, hopefully at the end of this year.

Brian Cave was the first to start producing a list for Gloucestershire using the old keys before emigrating soon afterwards (was one the cause of the other?). His list amounted to 43 species, mostly from sites around the Forest of Dean. Using the new key, I started looking at Springtails early in 2001 and by the end of December the county list had risen to sixty-eight from 161 records for the year. This may not sound very much but identification of springtails is very time-consuming. With few exceptions, they can only be identified using microscopes, and then often only after lengthy specimen-clearing processes to make them transparent. That can sometimes be a bit frustrating when your half-millimetre specimen "disappears" during this operation. Perhaps I should take up birdwatching again!

It is not yet possible to say whether any county species are unusual or rare as there is currently no National Recording Scheme. This will be set up next year following publication of the new key. However, it is possible to say that there is one species that is only known in Britain from two specimens found in a soil sample near Tarlton, Cirencester, and another species only known from one specimen from the same site. Watch this space, who knows what may turn up in the future.

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