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Checklist of the Collembola: Domestic Infestation of Seira brasiliana in Florida, US
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Samenvatting
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Keywords: Collembola, domestic infestation
| Ordo Entomobryomorpha Börner, 1913 | ||||||||
| Familia Entomobryidae Schött, 1891 | ||||||||
| Seira Lubbock, 1869 brasiliana (Arlé, 1939) Marcus, 1949 | ||||||||
| Country | Region | Place | UTM | Date | Quantity | Legit | Determinator | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US1 | Florida | St Peterburg | ?? | 1999.06.05-06 | 106a2 | Jones D | Christiansen KA | KAVE3 |
The specimens, determined with Christiansen & Bellinger (1980:925),
are keyed out as a pale form of Seira bipunctata.
Dr Kenneth Christiansen has identified the springtails as
Seira brasiliana.
This tropical species appears to be expanding its range.
It was described from Brazil in 1939
and was first found in Puerto Rico in 1973
and first collected in Florida in 1980.
It has never previously been reported from a house.
Since it is a new invader its activities are not very predictable.
The difference between the two closely related Seira species
is that there are only four central cephalic macrochaetae in
Seira brasiliana and Seira bipunctata has seven.
The key in Christiansen & Bellinger (1980) was made
before specimens of
Seira brasiliana from the U.S. were discovered.
Drs Christiansen and Bellinger are finishing a revision of the species
of the genus Seira in the America's which contains a new
illustrated key. The work is
to be published in the Carribean Journal of Science and should
be finished summer 1999.
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Observations of springtail counts inhouse (see Table II) from April 28 to June 7 were done by the junior author. All the counts have been done at one point in time during the day, usually in the afternoon, unless stated otherwise explicitly. The numbers counted are of live springtails. Only these are counted as it is assumed that they have not been inside the house for very long. There have been numerous occasions where dead springtails were found. The daily counts can and have been affected by such things as the time spend counting and the resolve on any given day. An attempt is made to spend the same amount of time day to day counting so that the records are standardised, but some days more time to count is available than others. For example, on the weekends, more time is spend at home than during the week.
| Date | Count | Pest control | Weather | Observation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999.04.28 | 213 | |||
| 1999.04.29 | 142 | Two trees and all underbush removed | ||
| 1999.04.30 | 52 | Stumps grinded; raked mostly in front of home | ||
| 1999.05.01 | 20 | Sprayed inside house and limited outside; raked mostly in back of yard; cleaned gutters | Cool | There were a large number living in debri in gutters |
| 1999.05.02 | 15 | Put down lime; raked some; sprayed outside walls of pool area | Cool | Saw quite a few on walls around pool (outside) |
| 1999.05.03 | 23 | Sprayed ditches | Quite a few more seen on outside walls, and garage door | |
| 1999.05.04 | 24 | During morning still seeing some on outside walls, not as much as previous day afternoon; afternoon had more activity; seem to be more active as day gets warmer | ||
| 1999.05.05 | 37 | Sprayed outside of house | During morning did not see many on outside of house; afternoon had considerly more present outside of house | |
| 1999.05.06 | 26 | Sprayed yard in afternoon | During morning did not see many on outside of house; more activity on outside walls in afternoon | |
| 1999.05.07 | 40 | Some rain, enough to wet ground pretty good | Less activity in morning; more activity in afternoon | |
| 1999.05.08 | 26 | Raked a lot of bags in front of dining room windows; removed thorney bushes | Some less activity during day; saw quite a bit of them in the bushes in front | |
| 1999.05.09 | 25 | Finished raking in front; raked planter area; extended air drain away from house; sprayed in front of house | A lot less activity; planter area contains a bunch of them | |
| 1999.05.12 | 12 | Very few to none on side of house (evening inspection); still a # on garage door and front door way; still some on walls around pool | ||
| 1999.05.13 | 7 | Less on outside walls (evening inspection); most outside activity seemed to be on garage door and some above front door | ||
| 1999.05.14 | 7 | |||
| 1999.05.15 | 15 | Cleaned out and sprayed area in front of door | Found many springtails in front of door as well as some subterranean termites in soil in planter area next to front door | |
| 1999.05.16 | 10 | Cleaned out and sprayed area beside garage | Saw less on walls outside | |
| 1999.05.17 | 4 | Saw less on walls outside (evening inspection) | ||
| 1999.05.18 | 3 | Saw more on walls outside than previous day (evening inspection) | ||
| 1999.05.19 | 14 | Still some on outside walls (evening inspection) | ||
| 1999.05.20 | 19 | Sprayed in shower | Found large number gathered on floor of shower stall; there were too many to count | |
| 1999.05.21 | 17 | Spreading out insecticide granules | Rained | |
| 1999.05.22 | 10 | Raked some on side of house | Rained some | |
| 1999.05.23 | 11 | Raked around pool; spread out lime on side of house; poured 2 gallons of bleach down drains, most in bath room | ||
| 1999.05.24 | 8 | |||
| 1999.05.25 | 10 | |||
| 1999.05.26 | 12 | |||
| 1999.05.27 | 11 | |||
| 1999.05.28 | 23 | |||
| 1999.05.29 | 25 | |||
| 1999.05.30 | 28 | Rained quite a bit | ||
| 1999.05.31 | 25 | Weather cooler; ground still real damp | ||
| 1999.06.01 | 22 | |||
| 1999.06.02 | 14 | Sprayed yard | Rained quite a bit | |
| 1999.06.03 | 17 | |||
| 1999.06.04 | 8 | |||
| 1999.06.05 | 17 | Sprayed outside of house | ||
| 1999.06.06 | 6 | Did not rain | ||
| 1999.06.07 | 19 | Did not rain |
Date Count 1999.04.28 213 
1999.04.29 142 1999.04.30 52 1999.05.01 20 1999.05.02 15 1999.05.03 23 1999.05.04 24 1999.05.05 37 1999.05.06 26 1999.05.07 40 1999.05.08 26 1999.05.09 25 1999.05.12 12 1999.05.13 7 1999.05.14 7 1999.05.15 15 1999.05.16 10 1999.05.17 4 1999.05.18 3 1999.05.19 14 1999.05.20 19 1999.05.21 17 1999.05.22 10 1999.05.23 11 1999.05.24 8 1999.05.25 10 1999.05.26 12 1999.05.27 11 1999.05.28 23 1999.05.29 25 1999.05.30 28 1999.05.31 25 1999.06.01 22 1999.06.02 14 1999.06.03 17 1999.06.04 8 1999.06.05 17 1999.06.06 6 1999.06.07 19
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Seira brasiliana has been recorded from the Antillean & South Florida, South Brazilian and Andean biogeographical regions ( global distribution ).
Published records of Seira brasiliana
(in chronological order):
After Greenslade, P. (2000:in litt.):
"I have mounted 25 specimens. I examined the gut contents and roughly worked out how full the
gut of each specimens was and identified a few recognisable objects in it.
My comments are as follows:
After Greenslade, P. (1999:in litt.):
"I am sure you are right in reducing the amount of water you put
on your garden. However if you have a lawn, this is another habitat in
which the springtail species, which I think you may have, are often
abundant. So, grass possibly should be avoided."
After Christiansen, K. (1999:in litt.):
"After viewing the pictures of your house and grounds I can only suggest
that if the open ditch is not required for your yard, you sometime get
large culvert piping to enclose the drainage ditch water and keep the
grounds around your house as dry as possible . A sand covering might be the
most effective route to go. Three inches will not do any good . I believe
you would need at least 4 feet of surround to do any good. No vegetation
or leaf litter should be allowed and the drier you keep the margin and
house the better. The trees are actually useful since they help to dry out
the soil and do not normally harbor Seira. Seira
should not breed inside
the house so you should only be having them come in from outside. I would
also avoid house plants inside the house as long as the problem persists. I
still think the problem will eventually diminish and remember they do not
carry disease, eat your food, attack furniture or household goods or
infect humans. So they are at worst a nuisance."
After Dallai, R. (1999:in litt.):
"Unfortunately there is
very little one can do against these animals, other than what you've already
done, the only comfort being the fact that they are not harmful.
Obviously, you should try to keep humidity inside (and outside) your house
as low as possible. Perhaps, air conditining is not sufficient and you may
consider to use a de-humidifier inside the house."