Sminthurus viridis
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| Sminthurus viridis | ||||||||||||
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| Sminthurus viridis Linnaeus, 1758 |
Sminthurus viridis, the clover springtail or lucerne flea, is a hexapod belonging to the order Collembola (the springtails). It is bright green with a roughly spherical body and often swarms in large numbers on living plants, especially Fabaceae including alfalfa (which is sometimes called lucerne, hence the first part of the common name). The second part of the common name is misleading as this species is not even remotely related to the fleas but was given for its jumping ability and its tiny size (in fact the lucerne flea is considerably smaller even than most true fleas, rarely exceeding 1 mm in length).
The species has a patchy distribution in Europe and North Africa and has been accidentally introduced to Australia.
[edit] References
- Chinery, Michael (1986, reprinted 1991). Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe. ISBN 0-00-219170-9.
