They have an enlarged genital papilla that is even more difficult to see! The males have generally, had an overall orangey/red colouration, somewhere halfway between the extremes of the female colour forms. I have found males too (mostly at another colony in a Staffordshire village churchyard). How did I know they were females? Well, in the Katiannidae, females have two sub-anal appendages that are just visible when the springtail is viewed from the side. It was thought that red-backed individuals were male and those without a red back were female. This is not uncommon in the world of invertebrates. This means that (apart from the differences in their sexual apparatus), sexes looked very different. It had been assumed (based on some early observations) that this was a species that exhibited marked sexual dimorphism. Now, this difference in colouration is interesting. The image below shows two mature adult females in different colour forms: It’s been a pleasure seeking-out these tiny creatures not only for the challenge, but because (in my eyes anyway) they are rather beautiful. To assist in determining the degree of maturity of individual springtails, I’ve created a ruler overlay which allows them to be measured to within 0.1 mm. I’ve been posting images on my Flickr Photostream since usually on the day they were photographed. I found the first individual on 2nd November 2016 and have been photographing them regularly since. The springtails just get a little bigger after each moult and (generally), develop darker pigmentation. It’s thought that both sexes have around five juvenile instars and five adult instars. This species varies from less than 0.4 mm in early instars up to about 1.5 mm in adult females. Springtails though, are extremely common and widespread. In fact, this makes them difficult to see with the naked eye and most people never notice them, or even know of their existence.
![bookwright bugs bookwright bugs](https://ivonnefrancoz.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/imgp0491.jpg)
Springtails are difficult to photograph because of their small size. Dr Frans Janssens from the University of Antwerp, asked me if I would help him with a survey to attempt to document (via photographs) all the male and female instars of the species. Having my own garden colony is great because I can check them every day with minimum effort.
![bookwright bugs bookwright bugs](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SS20pcLu-9o/maxresdefault.jpg)
It keeps me occupied until the mining-bee species start emerging again in early spring. I’m a keen photographer of insects and other invertebrates and the colder, wetter days during autumn and winter provide a good opportunity to photographs springtails and other members of the soil meso-fauna. The rather unusual name denotes the fact this member of the Katiannidae is a previously-undescribed species in a previously-undescribed genus. Since then, some of the species have been reported from various locations around the UK this year I found one of them ( Katiannidae Genus nov.1 species nov.) in our Staffordshire garden. It was speculated that they may have been introduced on imported plants. Some were new to the UK, some new to science. In 2009, Dr Paul Ardron published an article describing a number of “alien” springtail species that he had discovered at various UK locations including Sheffield Botanical Gardens and the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall.
![bookwright bugs bookwright bugs](https://ivonnefrancoz.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/imgp0509.jpg)
The gallery is at 4 Castle St, Ludlow, SY8 1AT. The Photo Space Gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday 10.30 - 16.30 hrs. The exhibition is titled " Brought to Mind" and opens at midday on Saturday 19th October 2019. I feel that they work well this this technigue.
![bookwright bugs bookwright bugs](https://ivonnefrancoz.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/imgp0517.jpg)
You will see that I have a liking for old garden and workshop tools, kitchenalia and interesting fruit and vegetables. Here's an example of some of the work I will be exhibiting: A such, I won the chance to hold a solo exhibition at the gallery. I was also judged "Peoples Choice" by visitors to the gallery. I was one of the seven winning photographers. This is run by the Photo Space gallery in Ludlow, Shropshire. I made reasonable progress and entered a selection in the 2019 Ludlow Seven photographic contest. I was determined to master the technique and to develop my own style and "look". Each element of the composition is lit separately and all of the elements are combined during post-processing. It involved using diffused torchlight to illuminate a still-life composition. Just over a year ago, I read an interesting article about a still-life photography technique.