Snow, Snow Flowers, and Snow Insects

We had a little bit of snow today, so now we have...

 Snow fleas and snow. But not snow fleas ON snow. I have seen that before, but never in my backyard. For some reason the snow fleas in my backyard stick to rocks and trees. There were more of them today than I have even seen in my backyard before.

The temperature was in the low 40s(F), so a bit above freezing.

 The snow fleas in my backyard have two hangouts this year, one rock on the front stairs, and one in the woods.

 

Both spots had greater numbers of snow fleas today than they have had other days this winter. This is the rock out front...

 ... and this is the one in the woods:

 This one has some black splotches on it that I think are some kind of lichen. You'll have to look closely to see which black specks are which, lichen or snow fleas. A reminder, by the way, that snow fleas are not fleas, they are a species of springtail. They won't bite you or harm you in any way.

 

 That rock also had another species of springtail. This one is much bigger, but still a tiny insect.

And, for good measure, one more species of springtail, actually on snow, but not a snow flea. I didn't get closer to this one, it was very springy.

The snowdrops survived being buried in snow and sleet yesterday:

There were a few little things flying around today, too, but I didn't get a close enough look at them to see what they were.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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