Springtails Do Their Own Stunts | Deep Look

Step right up to see tiny springtails spin through the air with the greatest of ease! In ponds and streams, they skyrocket out of the reach of hungry insects like water striders by slapping a tail-like appendage against the water. And you won’t believe how they stick the landing. SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! Please join our community on Patreon! DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. Semiaquatic springtails are as tiny as a poppy seed, which makes them a tasty snack to insects such as water striders in streams and ponds. But springtails have a secret superpower that allows them to evade their predators: the furcula. They use this tail-like appendage to jump off the water’s surface 150 times faster than the blink of an eye. Their explosive jumps can propel them as high as the equivalent of a six-story building for humans. So, once they’re up in the air, how do they land, ready to escape again? Scientists at Georgia Tech filmed semiaquatic springtails they put in a wind tunnel. The high-speed footage showed that springtails right themselves in the air by curving their bodies into the shape of a U. They land upright with the help of a droplet of water they collect with a tube on their abdomen called a collophore. “They don’t bounce away,” said Víctor Ortega-Jiménez, of the University of Maine, who carried out the research while at Georgia Tech. “The drop of water acts like a glue.” --- Are springtails insects? Even though, like insects, they have six legs, springtails aren’t considered insects because they keep their mouthparts tucked away, rather than exposed. Their furcula is another unique feature that sets them apart. --- How small are springtails? A springtail is 1 to 5 millimeters long, or one-sixteenth to one-fifth of an inch. --- How many springtail species exist? Scientists have identified more than 9,000 species of springtails, also known as collembolans. --- Find a transcript on KQED Science: --- More Great Deep Look episodes: What Makes This Frog’s Tongue So Fast AND Sticky? Earthworm Love is Cuddly … and Complicated This Mushroom Can Fly --- Shoutout! 🏆Congratulations🏆 to these fans on our Deep Look Community Tab for correctly answering our GIF challenge! Renkuka Karki Princess Pie Girl Rotation [Formula Zero EX_] --- Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10 per month)! Burt Humburg Karen Reynolds Companion Cube Daisuke Goto David Deshpande Chris B Emrick Tianxing Wang Wade Tregaskis Laurel Przybylski Mark Jobes Laurel Przybylski Kevin Judge Porkchop Cindy McGill Roberta K Wright Titania Juang El Samuels Rory B. Carrie Mukaida KW Jellyman Jessica Hiraoka Mehdi Noreen Herrington SueEllen McCann Louis O’Neill Nicolette Ray monoirre Jeremiah Sullivan Levi Cai TierZoo Elizabeth Ann Ditz Syniurge --- Follow Deep Look and KQED Science on social: @deeplookofficial Instagram: Twitter: --- About KQED KQED, an NPR and PBS member station in San Francisco, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media. Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the members of KQED. #springtail #deeplook