Glacier flea

The glacier flea (Desoria saltans, sometimes also Isotoma saltans) is a species of springtail. D. saltans is the common glacier flea, but there are several springtail species that are also called glacier fleas, and which catch the attention on snow surfaces due to their dark body colouring, their hopping motion and the fact that they often gather in large groups. These include, for example, Desoria nivalis (formerly also: Isotoma pseudomaritima) or Vertagopus alpinus.

Glacier flea
A group of glacier fleas assembled on the Tiefenbachferner, Tyrol, Austria
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Collembola
Order:	Entomobryomorpha
Family:	Isotomidae
Genus:	Desoria
Species:	D. saltans
Binomial name
Desoria saltans Nicolet, 1841

D. saltans is 1.5 – 2.5 millimetres long and lives on the glaciers and snowfields of the Alps, where it feeds on substances such as cryoconite, pollen and plant remains and snow algae of the genus Chlamydomonas. The jet black animal is easy to spot on light backgrounds and gathers in great numbers on surfaces during the melt season.

See also

• Snow flea
• Boreus hyemalis, also known as the snow flea or snow scorpionfly

Literature

• Eduard Handschin (1924): Die Collembolenfauna des Schweizerischen Nationalparks. Denkschriften der Schweizerischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 60: 89-174.
• Mikhail Potapov (2001): Synopses on Palearctic Collembola Part III: Isotomidae. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Naturkundemuseums Görlitz 73: 1-603.

External links

• BERGE ERLEBEN - Enzyklopädie: Gletscherfloh (Isotoma saltans)
• Kleiner Held im ewigen Eis - Ein kurzes Portrait des Gletscherflohs (die PDF-Version enthält Bilder)