Collembola Recording Scheme

Quality Control

The quality of data capture is inevitably variable, but the limiting factor remains our understanding of the underlying taxonomy. In particular there remains extensive disagreement about the names to be given to colour varieties (eg Dicyrtomina ornate/saundersi, Isotomurus palustris/unifasciatus, Entomobrya nivalis/intermedia) and to species based on Pseudocelli in the onychiurids. Steve Hopkin was a 'lumper', and was probably unduly dismissive of colour pattern species, leaving several cases where it is quite unclear which name to associate with a given record. The limited genetic evidence available suggests that colour pattern species are good, but pseudo-ocelli based species are unsound. The entries will be updated where possible as new taxonomic data come in, but some literature records must remain as dubious. Users are referred to the UK Collembola pages for discussion of individual taxonomic questions.

Method steps

1. The database was initially compiled by the late Steve Hopkin from a thorough search of UK literature records and specimens preserved on slides or in spirit (mainly in the NHML). The database contains a code indicating whether the record is literature only or has been validated by inspection of a preserved sample. Most springtails are collected by behavioural techniques (Tullgren funnels), with a few aspirated collections, but the exact collection method is not recorded in this database. A small but rapidly increasing source of records come from online photographs using macro-photography, subject to the criteria that the photograph is geo-referenced, dated, and the identify of the springtail is clear from the image.

This dataset covers the whole of the UK and Ireland, with the inevitable surveyor bias that remote regions are under-represented. All records are accurate only to within 10km, although the recorder may be able to supply more precise coordinates on request for some records.