springtail

English

Sminthurus viridis, a species of springtail

Etymology

From spring +‎ tail.

Noun

springtail (plural springtails)

  1. Any of various wingless hexapods, of the subclass Collembola, with spring-like legs. [from 18th c.]
    • 2022 November 7, Oliver Whang, “Why Fly or Swim When You Can Jump? Ask the Springtail.”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 1 October 2025:
      Among the wonders of the natural world that few people have ever noticed: a semiaquatic springtail in motion.
    • 2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherlands, Penguin, published 2023, page 214:
      Springtails, or collembolans, are strictly not insects because of technicalities to do with the position of their mouthparts, but they are the closest cousins of insects.

Translations

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