These "fleas" don't bite.

Mild days and melting snow are perfect for finding aggregations of "snowfleas," more properly called "Springtails."  These tiny insects are usually found feeding in leaf litter and soil. 

When food becomes scarce, they emerge from wet soil and matted leaves to migrate en masse up toward the sunlight to emerge on the snow pack surface where they appear like black pepper spilled on a white table cloth.Check your boot prints or depressions which collect dense springtail populations.

At the surface, springtails feed on plant debris collected on the snow surface or crawl up plant stems. When not on snow, springtails live in utter obscurity, feeding on fungi, algae, rotting leaves and bacteria. Some are predators of microscopic animals. None bite. They’re entirely harmless to humans and pets.

Springtails often aggregate by the millions. Populations explode when temperatures and moisture conditions are ideal. In soil with moist organic matter, populations can reach thousands per square foot. Springtails may form a large rafts floating on the surface of pooled water.

They have no wings and crawl slowly. The “spring tail” is an attached fork-like appendage called the “furcula” which folds under their body. When released, the furcula propels the springtail many times the length of its body. Isolate a cluster in your hand and watch closely to see them hop as they warm-up.

Proportionately, if we were able to leap as high as a springtail and stick to vertical surfaces, we wouldn't need stairways or elevators to reach the uppermost floors of tall buildings. The sixth floor is where the NHPR studios are located... so… Geronimo!