### animal | arthropod | insect:

Springtail
* All springtails are wingless.
* Many springtails are opportunistic species capable of rapid population growth.
* Most springtails breathe through their skin or cuticle, which is very permeable to water
  - develop into adults
* Most springtails feed on decay matter
  - organic matter
  - vegetable matter
  - funguses, organisms that include mushrooms, mold, and yeast
* Most springtails have appendages
  - courtship behavior
  - elaborate courtship behavior
  - size
  - possess organs
  - reach adulthood
  - thrive in areas
* Some springtails are carnivores and prey on tiny worms, other species of springtails and their eggs
  - emerge as pests
* Some springtails enter pools
  - swim pools
* Some springtails feed on dead animals
  - fungi
  - go through growth stages
* Some springtails have external appearances
  - forks
  - mandibles with well-developed molars
  - tubes
* Some springtails inhabit dead wood
  - invade structures
* Some springtails live in areas
  - caves or in the burrows of small mammals
  - fields
  - prefer moisture
* also thrive in damp crawlspaces.
* are a dull bluish black colour and have no wings
  - species of arthropod that generally live in areas of high humidity
  - able to crawl under doors that have damaged weather-stripping
  - an outdoor problem, even if they are found indoors
  - common soil dwelling arthropods
  - cosmopolitan, and they can be found worldwide
  - especially common around penguin colonies
  - even more numerous than insects
  - extremely numerous in compost
* are found all over the UK, most of the year round
  - almost everywhere in Australia in a wide variety of habitats
  - generally a temporary problem and die when moisture levels are reduced
  - more nutritious that fruit flies
  - no longer a threat once the stems become woody
  - often drab colored, and are distinctly segmented
  - part of the community of decomposers that break down and recycle organic wastes
  - pests due to their large numbers
  - small insects that live in the termite mound with the termites
  - small, white to gray, oblong insects that jump when disturbed
  - the food of many insects
* are tiny animals named for their ability to jump
  - tiny, threadlike insects which leap around the pot or watering saucer
  - usually light brown to cream in color
* are very common and can be found worldwide
  - soil dwelling insects
  - much like the herpes virus
* are very small insects that jump around when disturbed, much like fleas
  - small, only a few millimeters in length or smaller
  - wingless and typically gray or bluish in color
* become very active when their environment starts to dry.
* can be beneficial, through their ability to break down DDT in soil
  - have an elongated and cylindrical body shape, or they can be compact and spherical
  - invade by the thousands and they can do it quickly
  - jump several centimeters at a time
  - live for up to one year, reproducing at a rapid rate
  - provide plenty of food to seedlings
  - survive in extremely cold weather, and are known to survive in Arctic zones
* come in a variety of colors and shapes.
* commonly live up under slabs.
* eat algae, bacteria, decaying plant material, fungi and pollen
  - fungi, algae, and bacteria that they find in their environment
* feed mainly on organic materials
  - on algae, fungi, and decaying vegetable matter
  - fungi and bacteria associated with rotting organic matter in the soil
* feed on leaf litter, decaying plant materials, bacteria and fungi
  - materials, mold or mildew, bacteria, and fungi
  - mold and fungi, another reason why they prefer moist habitats
* get their name from the shape of their abdomen.
* have a forked structure on the fourth segment of their abdomen used for movement
  - more rounded body, are soft-bodied and are easily crushed
  - normal hind legs, whereas fleas have hind legs modified for jumping
  - only four or five segments in their abdomen, fewer than any other insect
  - oval heads with four-segmented antennae
  - separate sexes
* includes air sacs
  - brains
  - carapaces
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - ears
  - faces
  - flight feathers
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - quill feathers
  - sections
  - shells
  - skulls
  - thoraxes
  - vacuoles
* inhabit humid, moist areas near abundant food sources.
* live in damp places where they feed on decaying organic matter
  - soils all over the world from very warm climates to very cold climates
  - the leaflitter
  - mostly outside in damp or decaying conditions
* lose water through the surface of their body.
* move rapidly by crawling or jumping.
* nesting in concrete slabs require more than simply spraying around the concrete.
* normally live in damp soil.
* occasionally become pests in potted plants.
* occur in great numbers
  - leaf mold, damp soil, under bark, in decaying logs and in fungi
* prefer dark, damp areas.
* range throughout the Arctic, temperate and tropical regions.
* reproduce prolifically, developing from egg to adult in just a few weeks
  - quickly usually within three to five weeks
* tend to gather in the block which can be easily transferred to the tank for feeding.