As I drove down the road the other day, I saw a sign on the side of a pest control company announcing that the "Pest of the Month" was snow fleas. Snow fleas? What are they? And, more importantly, what do they "do"?

They belong to a family of arthropods called "springtails." There are approximately 650 species of springtails in the United States and all of them are considered harmless. They are named so because of the unique way they get around. They have two "tails" (furcula) on their back end that are tucked up underneath their belly and held in place by tiny "hooks" (retinaculum). In order to move from place to place, they release the spring-loaded "tails" which hit the snow or soil, and this sends them flying into the air. Since they can't control their direction, they frequently land in the same spot or only a few inches away landing like a six-legged tiddlywink. The movement has also been compared to a pingpong ball that has been thrown against the floor.They are soft-bodied creatures and they lack wings. Although many species have small eyes, some are nearly or totally blind. As small as they are (one-sixteenth of an inch in length) it is possible to see they have antennae.They can be white, yellow, brown, gray, blue, or black and some of them can have a mottled appearance. They're not fleas though, which is probably a relief! They are not going to hitch a free ride on you and get into your home in this way.In addition, snow fleas are not a threat to family pets and they do not sting people. It is possible for them to find a way into homes when conditions are right and can be a bit of a problem.The good news is snow fleas do not cause damage to buildings and should not be of concern other than they can appear in large numbers, and at that point, the homeowner is going to need the professionals to correct this problem. So, that is the reason they are nominated as "pest of the month.""Snow fleas, as they are called, are unique little creatures that are very common, and are quite literally right under our noses. Here's how to find them:On a warm, sunny winter day, take a look at the base of a tree where the snow may have melted down to expose some leaves, or where the snow is shallow or hollowed out just a bit. There you'll find a sprinkling of what looks like "pepper" or "ashes" on the surface of the snow. Each speck you see is a snow flea.Preferring damp soil, leaf mold, caying logs and fungi, they will move to a more suitable habitat when an area dries out. They are common in flower beds, under logs, woodpiles and paving stones. Their diet consists of plant material such as sap, fungi, pollen, algae, lichens and mold spores. These tiny insects come out on warm, sunny days to eat plant material or to take advantage of sap oozing from the tree. Some have mouthparts with well-developed molars while others are fluid feeders with sucking mouthparts. On their abdomens, tubelike structures called collophores are for taking in water.These harmless "fleas" are valuable species in woodland ecosystem. They are part of nature's cleanup crew helping to break down old dead plant matter, adding nutrients to the soil to improve the health of the soil and playing an important part in decomposition. While they are contributing to the health of the woodland soil, something else is going on, as well. As tiny as they are, looking like bits of ash or soot, they are prey for a variety of predators: beetles, ants, mites, centipedes, salamanders, frogs and harvestmen.Maybe the next time it snows, in between building snowmen and looking for tracks in the snow, you might want to take a peek at the base of some trees and see if you can spot these interesting insects.Jeannie Carl is a naturalist for the Carbon County Environmental Education Center.