@joncounts@mastodon.nz
Sometimes a moth is more than it seems.
I looked twice at this moth photo I was uploading to #iNaturalist. There was an orange spot on one wing. A parasitic mite?
No! It's a globular springtail!
I'm not sure if it hitched a ride into the moth light on this moth or came in on another insect.
springtail: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/341756456
moth: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/341756462
Surprisingly, a springtail expert on iNaturalist has suggested a species ID for this springtail. I wasn't expecting it to be able to be identified to that detail, but it certainly matches the description. It looks like it's Bourletiella arvalis.
That makes the springtail a lot more interesting than the moth it's on.
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (#GBIF) has 334 observations of the moth species (178 of which are from iNaturalist).
GBIF has only 16 observations of this springtail species from New Zealand. If confirmed, my little hitch-hiker here will be the 17th.
Absolutely. Let's go with that. 
It's entirely possible too. Springtails have been hitching a ride on winged insects for a long, long (long) time.
Here's a paper about fossil amber from about 16 million years ago when 25 springtails hitched a ride on a winged termite (and they all ended up trapped in amber).
SpringerLink
Fossil amber reveals springtails’ longstanding dispersal by social insects - BMC Ecology and EvolutionBackground Dispersal is essential for terrestrial organisms living in disjunct habitats and constitutes a significant challenge for the evolution of wingless taxa. Springtails (Collembola), the sister-group of all insects (with Diplura), are reported since the Lower Devonian and are thought to have originally been subterranean. The order Symphypleona is reported since the early Cretaceous with genera distributed on every continent. This distribution implies an ability to disperse over oceans, however symphypleonan Collembola have never been reported in marine water contrary to other springtail orders. Despite being highly widespread, modern springtails are rarely reported in any kind of biotic association. Interestingly, the fossil record has provided occasional occurrences of Symphypleona attached by the antennae onto the bodies of larger arthropods. Results Here, we document the case of a ~ 16 Ma old fossil association: a winged termite and ant displaying not some, but 25 springtails attached or in close proximity to the body. The collembola exhibit rare features for fossils, reflecting their courtship and phoretic behaviours. By observing the modes of attachment of springtails on different arthropods, the sex representation and ratios in springtail antennal anatomies in new and previously reported cases, we infer a likely mechanism for dispersal in Symphypleona. By revealing hidden evidence of modern springtail associations with other invertebrates such as ants and termites, new compelling assemblages of fossil springtails, and the drastic increase of eusocial insects’ abundance during the Cenozoic (ants/termites comprising more than a third of insects in Miocene amber), we stress that attachment on winged castes of ants and termites may have been a mechanism for the worldwide dispersal of this significant springtail lineage. Moreover, by comparing the general constraints applying to the other wingless soil-dwelling arthropods known to disperse through phoresy, we suggest biases in the collection and observation of phoretic Symphypleona related to their reflexive detachment and infer that this behaviour continues today. Conclusions The specific case of tree resin entrapment represents the (so far) only condition uncovering the phoretic dispersal mechanism of springtails - one of the oldest terrestrial arthropod lineages living today.
