Image: Katianna oceanica (13913339330)

Description: Probably Katianna oceanica Original description on Flickr: This I found in the depths of the Tarkine wilderness in a Myrtle forest. In Tasmania, this is the classic cool temperate type of rainforest, easily destroyed by fire, as opposed to a wet sclerophyll forest which has a mix of Eucalypt species combined with a mixed rainforest understory. This comes about as a response to fire or logging. Sadly, this is also one of the best Tasmanian environments to find a high invertebrate population. A pure rainforest is not particularly ecologically diverse, but rather wonderful. Happily looking for Collembola beneath enormous towering myrtles and tree ferns has to be one of the most wonderful times of my life so far! In the forest where I was, it was a typical one, of Myrtle and Sassafras, tree ferns and that was pretty much it. Fire over millions of years, plus a glacial period 22,000 years ago has probably made many more typical tree species extinct. It's a lot harder finding springtails in a real temperate rainforest, but if you do, it can often be some rather interesting ones, such as a beautiful, large, flattened Tasmanura species I found a few weeks ago, covered in tiny tubercles. This Katianna species in the main photo and comments is actually common in both forests and grassland in Tasmania however!
Title: Katianna oceanica (13913339330)
Credit: Katianna oceanica... probably (13913339330)
Author: Andy Murray
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes