PLANT PROTECTION 1 – Pests, Diseases and Weeds

PLANT PROTECTION 1 – Pests, Diseases and Weeds
Scientific name
Class Collembola, Phylum Arthropoda. There
are more than 1600 species in Australia.
www.ento.csiro.au/education/hexapods/collembola.html
Species include:
Garden springtails (Bourletiella spp.)
Mushroom springtails (Hypogastrura spp.)
Purple scum springtail (H. vernalis)
Rootfeeding springtails (Onychiurus spp.)
White springtail (Folsomia candida)
Lucerne flea (Sminthurus viridis) is a serious
introduced pest of lucerne, vegetables, etc.
The Toohey forest collembola (Dinaphorura
tooheyensis) is being assessed by the threatened
species scientific committee.
Beneficial springtails.
Litter and soil species play a role in the
maintenance of soil fertility by helping to
breakdown organic matter through grazing on
fungi and vegetable matter.
The grazing of large populations of the sewage
springtail (Hypograstrura viatica) controls
excessive algal growth in sewage beds.
Host range
Adults and nymphs feed on the same material.
Springtails are mainly scavengers feeding on fungi,
algae, pollen but under exceptional conditions
may injure soft plant tissue of a range of plants, eg
Mushrooms and mushroom compost where
they feed on decaying organic matter and fungi.
Occasionally healthy seeds and seedling roots
and shoots are attacked.
Some species are found in turf cores.
Compost, potting mixes and soil.
Bulbs and corms are also damaged.
Some species live amongst moss.
Springtails may live in perennial plant
production systems; field crops can also be
injured.
ALLIED PESTS - Springtails
Class Collembola
Description & damage
Adult springtails are generally < 6 mm long
with the most frequently observed species being
white or gray and about 1-3 mm long. Rarely up
to 10mm long. Some are green or yellow with
irregular darker markings; or blue-black, red or
banded with a metallic sheen. They are primitive
insects and the bodies of some species are covered
with scales or hairs. Springtails have:
A bilaterally symmetrical body.
An exoskeleton (outer hard covering to body).
A segmented body.
Three pairs of legs.
One pair of antennae.
Simple eyes.
Entirely and primitively wingless.
Many have a forked furcula on the abdomen for
jumping. The popular name of ‘springtail’ has
been applied because some species bear a
‘spring’, a pair of partly joined appendages, at
the end of the abdomen which enables them to
spring or jump when disturbed.
Nymphs resemble adults but they are smaller.
Damage. Springtails have tube-like chewing
mouthparts sunk into the head. Springtails are
often found in very large numbers in mushroom
compost where they can damage the crop if present
in high enough numbers. Seeds and seedlings may
also be damaged, corms rot. Delicate foliage of
growing plants may occasionally be attacked.
Diagnostics.
Springtails are so small that they are seldom
noticed except by those looking for them. Some
are more easily seen with the aid of a microscope
or hand lens.
Most commonly noticed after rain as small
‘grayish scum’ floating in their hundreds in
puddles of water ceaselessly moving or springing
on top of soil or pools in open drains, where the
water is still, not moving.
They are sometimes mistaken for thrips moving
over potting media especially after plants have
been irrigated.
White springtails on soil. Side view of springtail View from above
Fig. 125. Springtails (Class Collembola) commonly 1-3 mm long.
Photos NSW Dept of Industry and Investment.
Insects and allied pests - Springtails (Collembola) 197