Springtails: friend or foe?
Unless they’re lucerne flea, springtails are unlikely to damage broadacre winter crops.
The most infamous springtail in broadacre crops and pastures in Australia is the lucerne flea (Sminthurus viridis), which is known for chewing holes and ‘windows’ in leaf foliage. One further potential pest group are species of Onychiurus which can occur in agricultural soils in temperate regions. Onychiurus springtails are whitish in colour with 1.5 mm elongate bodies and can feed on plant roots (Greenslade and Ireson 1986). There are no records of Onychiurus species in the state.
However, most springtails are beneficial to soils, where they largely consume decaying vegetation or fungi, and play an important ecological role in the decomposition process. Springtails also are an abundant prey for generalist predators, providing a food source without the risk of lowering pest (aphid) predation (Roubinet et al 2017).
Small black springtails, which likely are the ‘purple scum collembolan’ (Hypogastura vernalis), have been specifically reported on canola at Port Broughton and in the Bordertown area. They can be commonly found in paddocks during wet conditions and are particularly noticeable as ‘rafts’ of thousands floating on puddles or in muddy areas. There are no known records of plant damage caused by these purple scum collembolans (Greenslade and Ireson 1986).
Our experience is that springtails (aside from lucerne flea) largely do not cause economic damage. If feeding symptoms such as silvering, chlorosis or distortion are present it is not springtails; these are symptoms from pests with sucking mouthparts such as aphids and mites.
The PestFacts SA team always wants to know what invertebrates you are finding in your crops and pastures, whether it is a pest, beneficial or unknown – and even the ‘usual’ pests. Please send your reports or identification requests via the PestFacts Map online report form. Alternatively, please contact:
Rebecca Hamdorf: rebecca.hamdorf@sa.gov.au or 0429 547 413
Maarten van Helden: maarten.vanhelden@sa.gov.au or 0481 544 429
References:
Greenslade, P. and Ireson, J.E. (1986) Collembola of the southern Australian culture steppe and urban environments: a review of their pest status and key to identification. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 25, 273–291.
Roubinet, E., Birkhofer, K., Malsher, G., Staudacher, K., Ekbom, B., Traugott, M. et al. (2017) Diet of generalist predators reflects effects of cropping period and farming system on extra- and intraguild prey. Ecological Applications, 27, 1167–1177.
