When you are out in the woods at this time of year, the little-known fact that for every person on earth there are 200 million insects is probably the furthest thing from your mind — but not necessarily from your feet.
As the spring sun melts the snow in the forest, you will start to see hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny moving dots in most of the depressions left by human and animal footfall. These dots are comical little insects familiarly called "snow fleas" but scientifically known as Hypogastrura nivicola.
Snow fleas really aren't fleas at all. They do not bite animals or humans and can't survive long in a dry indoor environment. They are weird and primitive members of the family of insects called springtails.
They have a stiff appendage called a furcula attached to their abdomens. The furcula is retracted against their bodies and held there in a cocked position by two special hooks that can be released, snapping the furcula down against whatever surface they are on, catapulting the insect upward. This device may have evolved as a way to avoid being caught by predators. It is a tiny model of the surprise, spring-loaded escape methods so well captured in Hollywood chase scenes and so inspiring for youngsters dreaming of relief from desks and dry homework.
Springtails have no wings and depend on this jumping action to move from place to place, hence the blurry motion a walker sees when thousands of the tiny specks are trying to spring up out of depressions that may only be a few inches deep. As the weather continues to warm, snow fleas congregate in swarms near pools and ponds of melted snow. Expect them on your boots and pant legs as they hop haphazardly to avoid you.
Like millions of other insects, snow fleas live in the top layer of soil during the warm months but beneath the snow over the winter, embedded in the ground. As the weather warms up, they seek food and moisture on the surface of the snow. Snow fleas eat decaying plant and animal matter, digesting them into nutrients that young seedlings absorb. Snow fleas are in turn eaten by slightly larger predatory insects and some types of birds.
Among the amazing things about snow fleas is that they can endure subzero temperatures and come back to life in full force. They contain a protein that serves as an anti-freeze. This protein, like the proteins that protect frogs and other animals from death by freezing, has been studied for its usefulness in human medicine. In particular, these proteins could be used to sustain organs for transplant much longer than current treatments.
Another exciting sign of spring is the presence of incredible, strong young athletes on the hardwood floors during the basketball playoff season. I admire the incredible achievements of the only North Country species I know that so impressively gains strength, speed and agility during the winter months. Looks like another good winter for the local population of young basketball players.
Elizabeth Lee is a licensed guide who lives in Westport. She leads recreational and educational programs focused in the Champlain Valley throughout the year. Contact her at lakeside5047@gmail.com.
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