麻豆淫院

The Colorado Snow Flea,听叠辞谤别耻蝉听肠辞濒辞谤补诲别苍蝉颈蝉, is named for specimens collected from the Mountain Research Station on Niwot Ridge in 1952听and听now preserved in our entomology collection.听The common name听鈥渟now听flea鈥澨齛lso covers another group of insects called听Collembola, or springtails and it is important to note these are distinct from the Colorado Snow Flea听shown here. The Colorado Snow Flea is a听scorpionfly, a听familiar insect to fly fishers! Colorado Snow Fleas are very small, barely reaching 2.5mm long. Their bodies are black with a bronze听iridescence,听and they are covered in small white hairs that can only be seen with听the听aid of a microscope. Despite their听diminutive听size, their dark body color contrasts听with the snow and their occasional abundance and aggregating behavior make them easily detectable during the late months of winter and early months of spring on top of snow. Colorado Snow Fleas can be found between 7,500- and 12,000-feet above sea level in forested mountain slopes. Both immature and adult Colorado Snow Fleas feed on moss. Similar to moss, these insects are intolerant of dry conditions and are inactive during the dry months of the year. To withstand the freezing temperatures, Snow Fleas can cool the temperature of their body fluids to -23掳F!听

Catching sight of an active insect during Colorado鈥檚 winter months is a rarity, and this must have been what William S.听Osburn鈥搊ne of the founding board members of the听CU鈥檚听Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research鈥搕hought when he decided to collect several specimens of the Colorado Snow Flea in 1952. These specimens were quickly vouchered in the entomology collection of the CU Museum of Natural History, and later sent on to an entomologist who specialized on the Snow Flea group, George Byers. In 1955, Byers declared the Colorado Snow听Scorpionfly听a unique species 鈥撎�叠辞谤别耻蝉听肠辞濒辞谤补诲别苍蝉颈蝉听Byers. The type specimen, or the specimen for which the species description is written, is vouchered at CUMNH.听