Crossword clues for springtail
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pintail \Pin"tail`\, n.
(Zo["o]l.) A northern duck ( Dafila acuta), native of both continents. The adult male has a long, tapering tail. Called also gray duck, piketail, piket-tail, spike-tail, split-tail, springtail, sea pheasant, and gray widgeon.
(Zo["o]l.) The sharp-tailed grouse of the great plains and Rocky Mountains ( Pedioc[ae]tes phasianellus); -- called also pintailed grouse, pintailed chicken, springtail, and sharptail.
Wiktionary
n. Any of various wingless insects, of the order ''Collembola'', that have spring-like legs.
WordNet
n. any of numerous minute wingless primitive insects possessing a special abdominal appendage that allows the characteristic nearly perpetual springing pattern; found in soil rich in organic debris or on the surface of snow or water [syn: collembolan]
Wikipedia
Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have internal mouthparts, they do not appear to be any more closely related to one another than they all are to insects, which have external mouthparts.
Some DNA sequence studies suggest that Collembola represent a separate evolutionary line from the other Hexapoda, but others disagree; this seems to be caused by widely divergent patterns of molecular evolution among the arthropods. The adjustments of traditional taxonomic rank for springtails reflects the occasional incompatibility of traditional groupings with modern cladistics: when they were included with the insects, they were ranked as an order; as part of the Entognatha, they are ranked as a subclass. If they are considered a basal lineage of Hexapoda, they are elevated to full class status.
Collembolans are omnivorous, free-living organisms that prefer moist conditions. They do not directly engage in the decomposition of organic matter, but contribute to it indirectly through the fragmentation of organic matter and the control of soil microbial communities. The word "collembola" is from the ancient Greek kolla meaning glue and embolon meaning wedge or plug.
Usage examples of "springtail".
The springtail will have spread your scent by mouth-touching in the subsidiary chamber, ahead of us.
He suspected that Mirny, or whatever was left of her, was somewhere in the tunnel where the springtail had been killed.
They had a computer that was learning the language of the springtails faster than I could.
Those that accompany me are called the springtails, and they speak only for themselves.
She handed most of the fungus to the two springtails, which devoured it greedily and looked expectantly for more.
The springtails were afraid of him, and the two juveniles that Mirny had tamed had developed into fat, overgrown tyrants that freely terrorized their elders.
Afriel had been too busy to seriously study the springtails or the other symbiotes.
When the Investors return here, the springtails will say that they have killed you, and will tell them to never return.
When we have learned how these are rearranged against randomness, to make, say, springtails, quantum mechanics, and the late quartets, we may have a clearer notion how to proceed.
Lacewings came in, bristle-tails, ants, thrips, springtails and - oh ye gods - scorpions.
A gull slid past overhead, its shadow falling cold across her for a brief instant, then she stepped up onto the first ledge, inserted a fist into the cool depths of a ragged crack and laughed out loud as a dozen tiny springtails popped out of the crevice onto her arm and away into the rocks below.
Each handful contains millions of bacteria, fungi and algae from countless species, and the protozoans, springtails and nematodes that feed on them.
He was munching fungus in one of the anterior chambers when Mirny's two tamed springtails found him.