COLLEMBOLA > PODUROMORPHA > NEANUROIDEA > Neanuridae > Neanurinae

This particular species is a bit special, not just because of its general appearance and rather beautiful salmon-pink colour, but because it's a relatively new springtail to British shores with very few confirmed records. In fact, at the time I photographed this specimen, I was only able to find records of two others; the first from a semi-rural garden in Shropshire in January 2015 and the second from South Wales in 2018. I'm pretty sure there have been a few more, but these are the two that are usually referred to. Not surprisingly, it's one of our most sought-after species and one that I was extremely fortunate in finding.

The discovery was even more remarkable given that it was my first visit to the woods and that I was only there to kill a couple of hours whilst hanging around to collect my wife from a brunch meeting being held at a local cafe. The location is actually the other side of the New Forest and a little outside my normal area, but it's definitely somewhere that I intend to visit again. Fortunately, I'd gone well prepared because, although I knew it was going to be a nice morning, it was the first dry day for a while and the woods were very wet and muddy. The fallen branches and rotting wood in the leaf-litter were saturated and, understandably, unproductive, but there were a few wind-blown or cut trees that had had their branches removed and where the trunks had been left alongside the track. Some of these had loose bark under which I found quite a few species of springtail as well as mites and a few tiny spiders and beetles. Towards the end of my walk, I came across some piles of cut timber that had been stacked for later collection. They'd obviously been there for a while and on closer inspection I found that a few had large chunks of bark that were coming adrift. I didn't need to look far though as this tiny little springtail was under the first piece I lifted. Interestingly though, despite its colour, it didn't immediately grab my attention. However, I've learnt from past experience that you need to look and then look again, carefully and closely.

I initially thought that it was Monobella grassei - a species that, at the time of writing, I was still seeking - but then realised that it should have been bright orange, not pink! I had absolutely no idea what it was, but knew that it was unusual and, with its very photographical position, knew that I needed to take as many photos as possible. I'm glad I did. Later, back at home with an enlarged photo on the computer, I started to see if I could find anything similar. The colour alone produced very few options and indeed it was the 'pink' part of my internet search that brought up the original NBN (National Biodiversity Network) article about the first discovery in Shropshire. Photos were then posted to the FB 'UK Collembola' group where it was immediately confirmed that it was indeed Bilobella braunerae.