Lepidocyrtus sp. “Micro Gold” Springtails for Sale

Overview

Micro Gold springtails are tiny live springtails used as a cleanup crew for bioactive terrariums, vivariums, isopod cultures, planted setups, and springtail culture maintenance. Customers receive live Lepidocyrtus sp. “Micro Gold” springtails in the selected count.

This species is best known for its metallic color shift. In normal lighting, Micro Gold springtails may look dark blue, metallic blue, or deep purple. However, under certain lighting and humidity conditions, they can shine with a deep gold or bronze-gold reflection.

Micro Gold springtails are useful because they help consume mold, fungi, biofilm, bacteria, algae, and small decomposing organic material. As a result, they are a great choice for keepers who want a cleanup crew species that is both functional and visually interesting.

Pronounced

Lepidocyrtus: Lep-ih-doh-SIR-tus
Micro Gold: My-kroh Gold

Care Level

Care Level: Easy to Intermediate

Micro Gold springtails are not difficult to keep when moisture, airflow, and food are balanced. They do best in moist, well-aerated cultures and moderate to high humidity enclosures. However, they should not be kept in stagnant, flooded, or completely dry conditions.

Appearance and Size

Micro Gold springtails are small, fast-moving springtails with a metallic look. Their color can appear dark blue, metallic blue, purple, bronze, or gold depending on lighting, humidity, viewing angle, and culture conditions.

They are smaller than many display springtails, but their reflective color makes them attractive under macro lighting. Since they are tiny, customers may need to look closely to see them clearly after shipping.

Adult Size

Adult Size: Very small, commonly around 1 to 2 mm

Their small size allows them to move through moss, substrate pockets, bark crevices, leaf litter, and culture media. Therefore, they are useful for bioactive terrariums, vivariums, springtail cultures, and isopod bins.

Reproductive Rate

Reproductive Rate: Moderate to High once established

Micro Gold springtails can become productive under the right conditions. They usually perform best with consistent moisture, good airflow, and light supplemental feeding.

Micro Gold Springtail Care

Micro Gold springtails flourish in a moist, well-aerated substrate or culture medium. They prefer high humidity, but they also need ventilation to keep the culture healthy.

In bioactive enclosures, add Micro Gold springtails near moist substrate, bark, moss, leaf litter, or shaded humid pockets. They will move into areas where moisture and food are available.

Avoid dry culture media, stagnant containers, chemical cleaners, pesticide-treated materials, direct heat lamps, and overfeeding. Also, avoid leaving live cultures in hot cars, direct sunlight, or sealed areas with extreme heat.

Micro Gold Springtail Husbandry

Temperature

Temperature: 70 to 80°F preferred

Micro Gold springtails prefer stable temperatures that are not too extreme. A practical target range around 72 to 78°F works well for most cultures and bioactive setups.

Avoid direct sun, sudden temperature swings, strong heat sources, and overheated terrariums. Stable room temperature is usually better than pushing the culture too warm.

Humidity

Humidity: Moderate to High, with ventilation

Micro Gold springtails prefer moist conditions and high humidity, but the setup should still breathe. Keep one area consistently moist while preventing sour, stagnant, or waterlogged conditions.

Best ways to control humidity: 

• Good airflow
• No standing water
• Light feeding
• Protected hiding areas
• Stable temperature

If the culture dries out, activity and reproduction may slow. If it stays too wet without airflow, mold and odor can become a problem.

Springtail Culture Setup

Micro Gold springtails can be kept in a culture cup or added to a bioactive enclosure. They are flexible enough to work in clay, plaster, soil-style, charcoal, or bioactive substrate cultures as long as moisture and ventilation are managed correctly.

Good culture and enclosure materials include:

• Springtail clay
• Charcoal
• Bio-Plaster
• Moist organic substrate
• Leaf litter
• Bark
• Moss
• Springtail Culture Booster
• Bioactive substrate

Clay and plaster-style cultures are useful for clean maintenance and harvesting. Soil or bioactive substrate cultures are useful when the culture medium will become part of a living enclosure.

Micro Gold Springtail Diet

Micro Gold springtails feed on fungi, mold, biofilm, bacteria, algae, decaying plant matter, and prepared springtail foods. In culture cups, they benefit from light supplemental feeding.

Biofilm, Fungi, and Decaying Organic Matter

Micro Gold springtails help consume mold, fungal growth, biofilm, and tiny organic debris. This makes them useful in bioactive terrariums, vivariums, and isopod cultures where moisture and organic matter are present.

However, springtails do not replace proper enclosure maintenance. If mold becomes heavy, reduce overfeeding, remove spoiled food, improve airflow, and check the moisture balance.

Supplemental Springtail Food

Use TC INSECTS Springtail Culture Booster to support Micro Gold springtail culture growth and productivity. A prepared springtail diet helps keep cultures active and easier to maintain between enclosure seedings.

Good feeding options include:

• TC INSECTS Springtail Culture Booster
• Small amounts of yeast-based springtail feed
• Small amounts of grain-based springtail food
• Natural biofilm in mature substrate
• Fungi and microorganisms in leaf litter

Feeding Notes

Feeding Notes: Feed lightly and increase only when the culture is consuming food well.

Too much food can mold heavily, sour the culture, or attract pests. A small feeding is usually enough for a starter culture. Add more only after most of the previous feeding has been consumed.

Micro Gold Springtail Breeding

Micro Gold springtails can breed well in a stable, moist culture. They are considered productive when kept with proper moisture, food, ventilation, and temperature.

To support breeding, provide:

• Stable moisture
• Stable room temperatures
• Light feeding
• Clean culture medium
• Good airflow
• A backup culture when possible

Avoid letting the culture dry out completely. Also, avoid keeping it sealed, soggy, or overloaded with food.

Females

Females: Sexing springtails is not needed for normal culture maintenance. Keep the culture stable and allow the population to grow naturally.

Males

Males: Customers do not need to separate males or create breeding groups. Culture success depends more on moisture, food, temperature, airflow, and cleanliness.

Culture Maintenance

Keep the culture moist, feed lightly, and refresh the culture medium when it becomes old or dirty. If the culture grows heavily, use part of it to seed enclosures while maintaining part as a backup culture.

Micro Gold Springtail Natural Habitat

Micro Gold springtails are sold in the hobby as Lepidocyrtus sp. “Micro Gold.” Since the exact species identification is not confirmed beyond genus-level wording, it is best not to overclaim a precise natural origin.

Lepidocyrtus is a genus of slender springtails in the family Entomobryidae. In captivity, Micro Gold springtails should be treated as moisture-associated microfauna that perform well in well-aerated cultures, bioactive terrariums, vivariums, and organic-rich setups.

Best Uses for Micro Gold Springtails

Micro Gold springtails are a strong choice for keepers who want a small cleanup crew species with a unique metallic look.

Best uses include:

• Bioactive terrariums
• Planted vivariums
• Amphibian enclosures
• Humid reptile habitats
• Isopod cultures
• Springtail backup cultures
• Mold control support
• Naturalistic terrarium systems

Small supplemental feeder use for suitable micro insectivores

Micro Gold springtails are especially useful for keepers who want both cleanup crew function and visual interest. Their gold, bronze, blue, or purple metallic reflection makes them more eye-catching than many standard white springtails.

Receiving and Acclimation Guidance

When your Micro Gold springtails arrive, open the package indoors and inspect the culture carefully. Springtails are tiny, so look closely for movement on the culture medium, cup walls, food areas, and moist surfaces.

Keep the culture moist after arrival. If the medium looks dry, lightly mist or add a small amount of clean water depending on the culture type. Do not flood the culture unless the medium is designed for that style of maintenance.

To add springtails to a terrarium, place part of the culture near moist substrate, leaf litter, bark, or moss. Then cover lightly so the springtails can move into protected areas.

Helpful receiving tips:

Open indoors

• Keep away from heat and direct sun
• Maintain a moist area
• Feed lightly after arrival
• Seed near damp substrate and leaf litter
• Avoid chemical sprays
• Avoid pesticide-treated decor
• Keep a backup culture if possible

Choose the right culture medium for direct-add use

Recommended Add-On: TC INSECTS Springtail Culture Booster

Support your Micro Gold springtail culture with TC INSECTS Springtail Culture Booster. A prepared springtail diet helps keep cultures active, productive, and easier to maintain between enclosure seedings.

This is especially helpful if you want to keep the culture breeding in the cup instead of adding the entire culture to a terrarium at once.

Best used for:

• Maintaining springtail cultures
• Supporting reproduction
• Feeding backup cultures
• Boosting culture activity
• Keeping springtails available for future bioactive setups

Use a small amount at a time. If food remains uneaten, reduce the next feeding.

Recommended Add-On: TC INSECTS Ultra Habitat Kit

Give your Micro Gold springtails a ready-to-use bioactive base with the TC INSECTS Ultra Habitat Kit. This is a premade habitat setup designed so keepers can add isopods, springtails, and other compatible cleanup crew species directly into a prepared environment.

The Ultra Habitat Kit helps customers avoid starting with a bare container. Instead, it gives springtails and isopods a more complete habitat with moisture-holding areas, hiding spaces, grazing surfaces, and bioactive materials that support a living cleanup crew system.

It includes useful habitat components such as rotten soft wood, flake soil, moss, charcoal, calcium, worm castings, and other bioactive materials that help create a naturalistic setup for springtails and isopods.

This is useful for customers setting up:

• Bioactive cleanup crew cultures
• Isopod starter habitats
• Springtail culture habitats
• Naturalistic observation setups
• Planted terrarium cleanup crew bases
• Backup cultures for future enclosure seeding

For best results, add Micro Gold springtails near the moist side, bark, leaf litter, or wood pieces. Keep part of the habitat moist, provide ventilation, and feed lightly with TC INSECTS Springtail Culture Booster as needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Micro Gold springtails beginner-friendly?

Yes. Micro Gold springtails can be beginner-friendly if kept with moisture, good airflow, light feeding, and stable temperatures.

Why do Micro Gold springtails look gold sometimes?

Their metallic color can shift based on lighting, humidity, viewing angle, and culture conditions. They may appear dark blue, purple, bronze, or gold.

Are Micro Gold springtails good for bioactive terrariums?

Yes. Micro Gold springtails are useful in bioactive terrariums, vivariums, planted setups, and isopod cultures where moisture and organic material are available.

What do Micro Gold springtails eat?

They feed on mold, fungi, biofilm, bacteria, algae, decaying plant matter, and prepared springtail food.

What temperature do Micro Gold springtails need?

They prefer stable temperatures around 70 to 80°F. Avoid extreme heat, direct sun, and sudden temperature swings.

Can Micro Gold springtails live with isopods?

Yes. Micro Gold springtails can work well in isopod cultures when the setup has suitable moisture, food, and ventilation.

Can Micro Gold springtails be used as feeders?

Yes, they can be used as tiny supplemental feeders for suitable small frogs, micro geckos, and other micro insectivores. Their main use is cleanup crew support.

Why do I not see many springtails right away?

Springtails are tiny and may hide in the culture medium after shipping. Keep the culture moist, feed lightly, and check damp food areas for movement.

Learn More About Springtails and Bioactive Care

• TC INSECTS SPRINGTAIL BLOG

GBIF: Lepidocyrtus
Taxonomy reference for the genus Lepidocyrtus within Collembola, Entomobryomorpha, and Entomobryidae.
https://www.gbif.org/species/2120880

• University of Minnesota Extension: Springtails
Educational resource about springtails feeding on fungi, pollen, algae, and decaying organic matter in moist habitats.
https://extension.umn.edu/nuisance-insects/springtails

• Penn State Extension: Springtails
Educational resource explaining springtails, damp environments, mold, mildew, fungi, bacteria, and decaying plant material.
https://extension.psu.edu/springtails/

• Colorado State University Extension: Springtails
Educational overview explaining springtails, moisture, organic matter, fungi, algae, bacteria, and decaying plant material.
https://extension.colostate.edu/resource/springtails/

• University of Missouri Extension: Springtails
Educational resource explaining springtails, organic matter, moisture sensitivity, and their role in soil environments.
https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g7363

Final Notes

Micro Gold springtails are a strong choice for keepers who want a useful cleanup crew species with a unique metallic color shift. They help process mold, fungi, biofilm, and small organic debris while adding visual interest to the bioactive cleanup crew layer.

For best results, keep the culture moist, provide ventilation, feed lightly, avoid heat extremes, and seed them into enclosures with leaf litter, moss, bark, and organic substrate.