Things are hotting up in the compost heap

[LordV]

The competition that is not the temperature :)

Brian V.

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[Photogirl2007]

Well this certainly is a colourful lot Brian!! Brilliant shots as usual.

[sebastianr]

Yuck, I'm just about to eat my breatfast here :D

[Matatazela]

Wow, Brian. Fantastic, sharp and clear shots here. I must go and inspect my heap, although I suspect I will find rats.

[macro junkie]

WOW.u lucky swine

[lance v]

Huh our orabatid mites(In NZ) Dont have those hair spikes on their bodies! wiered;)

[LordV]

Huh our orabatid mites(In NZ) Dont have those hair spikes on their bodies! wiered;)
Ah but these are my special gooseberry mites ;) :D

Brian V.

[Courierman]

nice work there ,so you'v got your own springtail sweet shop

[zacker]

ewwwwww..... great shots!

[dpastern]

Wow, Brian. Fantastic, sharp and clear shots here. I must go and inspect my heap, although I suspect I will find rats.

Nothing wrong with rats.

Wow Brian - tonnes of Springtails there, amazing stuff. I had no idea what the red things were, thanks for the ID.

Dave

[johnkermit1]

terrific shots Brian! that is quite the collection of Springtails, and Mites...gives me goose bumps...!

[LordV]

Thanks for the comments everybody - much appreciated :)
Seem to be a few common names for these compost mites - "harvest" mites and "tortoiseshell" mites were two I came across. The springtail pile seemed to be against a piece of decaying fish food.

Brian V.

[T.D.]

Brian, these are fabulous.

It's nice seeing them in their environment.

[bsmotril]

Jeez, now I've got the heebie jeebies and itchies. Great shots !!!

[racketman]

shows how small they are when you can get so many in frame even with the MPE.

[LordV]

Thanks again for the comments :)
Toby I tried to do a rough count on the springtails in the last shot- I think there are about 60 :)
Brian v.

[Courierman]

How much a bag :lol:

[johnkermit1]

like gummy springtails...thye almost look tastee....almost. lol
seems ive made this joke before...but this time it looks like the real thing!
:-)

[Jay Lowery]

haha great, i love a nice healthy compost pile. more alive than you think. nice shots.

[LordV]

How much a bag :lol:

Did wonder about selling a 100% organic/ natural compost starter kit :)

Brian v.

[LordV]

Thanks again for the comments and looking Jay and JK1 :)

JK1- now there's a thought springtail jelly babies :)
Brian v.

[alliec]

Wonderful shots there Brian, never seen so many springtails in a group like that.

[Courierman]

no, how much a bag of gummy springtails

[bandit 1]

Hiya Brian,

Excellent series of shots, my favorite is #2
I've often wondered what the symbiosis if any, there is between the Mites & Springers as they always seems to be together in my heap o Leaves ?

Cheers for now
Mark

[GaryT]

Great shots, Brian. Guess I'll have to start a compost heap this spring when the weather breaks. Looks like it provides a multitude of opportunities.

[LindaB]

Pretty amazing shots Brian - Im not brave enough to stick my head in my bin to see what lurking in there LOL.

Linda

[troypiggo]

Wow. Love the colours and details, and some bugs I've not seen before. Thanks for sharing Brian! I like the little white sprintail sitting on top of the mite in #2.

[Cactuspic]

Super shots Brian. Its amazing that such interesting life teems unseen. Great captures.

Irwin

[Far2Close]

Great shots, i agree with Johnkermit, they almost look like candy, even the spikey round ones. But the spring tails totally gummy like. Wonder if anyones ever thought of making gummy spring tails like that :)

I've been told you can find spring tails in any part of the world, I tried digging up wet leaves, and top soil, lifting up rocks, but still haven't seen any, the weather is a bit chilly here. Any tips?

[LordV]

Thanks again for the comments everyone :)
Mark there may be indirect symbiosis where one releases materials suitable for the other from the leaves I suppose.

Linda - one of my compost bins is effectively full up and I put a layer of leaves on the top so I was resting the camera on the rim to take these shots or I lifted a leaf out on to a lid to take the shots (I did put it back after).

Far2close -Springtails are not normally in such high concentrations but If I pick up a rotting leaf off the lawn there's normally one or 2 springtails walking about on the underside. As long as it's not below 0'c springtails seem to prefer cooler weather. As Racketman has shown they also like damp wood, rusty damp metal etc.

Brian V.

[bandit 1]

Hiya Brian,

There's also the thought that crossed my mind & probably only my mind, an old saying that one mans $" ' * is another mans gold or in this case food :lol:

Time for Breaky now poor ol guts think my throat's been cut:lol:

Hope your day is drier that our is here, my God it's rough


Cheers for now
Mark



[quote=LordV;4705705]Thanks again for the comments everyone :)
Mark there may be indirect symbiosis where one releases materials suitable for the other from the leaves I suppose.