How Do Springtails Feed on Fungi in Soil?
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How do springtails feed on fungi in soil? The research calls these animals Collembola, and the first study describes them as grazing on soil fungi. The study describes chemical cues that help them locate fungi, and it says they choose among fungal strains, which affects how well they survive and reproduce. A second line of research traces the carbon they eat and points to mycorrhizae, the fungi named in that study. This article explains the feeding process from the smell cue to the grazing, and it relies on two research papers for every factual claim.
Quick answer
- Springtails graze fungal threads and choose among them. “The mycelia of soil fungi are constantly challenged by predation from fungivorous arthropods like Collembola which discriminate between fungal strains and display marked preferences” (Source 1).
- Smell guides the choice. “Fungal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) serve as important cues for mycelial location and selection by soil fungivores, but may also act as repellents” (Source 1).
- Some fungi are a poor meal. “Collembola generally display poor fitness parameters like reproduction and survival when feeding on Trichoderma species, compared to other fungi” (Source 1).
- Some soil springtails use mycorrhizae as food. “soil-dwelling species generally feed on mycorrhizae to obtain root-derived C” (Source 2).
What the first study calls the food
The first study frames the topic as a predator and prey relationship. It says that “The mycelia of soil fungi are constantly challenged by predation from fungivorous arthropods like Collembola which discriminate between fungal strains and display marked preferences.” The term mycelia is the name the study uses for the fungal body that the animals graze, so the question is which fungi they eat and why.
The study also places the grazing inside the fungal community. It notes that “Selective grazing by fungivores can change fungal community composition,” and it adds a further effect: “fungal succession can be accelerated if less competitive strains are preferentially grazed.” In other words, the animals do not only eat fungi; their choices can change which fungi keep growing.
How smell guides the choice
The main mechanism the first study examines is smell. It says that “Fungal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) serve as important cues for mycelial location and selection by soil fungivores, but may also act as repellents.” The same paper explains that fungi and bacteria in soil release many of these compounds, because “they rely mostly on chemical signalling to exchange information with their environment.”
Some of these smells are especially important. The study notes that “Typically, eight-carbon compounds such as 1-octen-3-ol are prominent in fungal odours and are known to be involved in the chemotaxis of Collembola and other fungivores.” The study’s focus is on odour as the starting point for that choice.
The study also reports earlier work on odour alone. It says that “three Collembola species could discriminate between fungal species on the basis of odour alone.” That finding supports the idea that smell is enough for the animals to tell fungi apart before they reach them.
Why some fungi are avoided
The first study uses Trichoderma as its main example. It describes the genus this way: “Trichoderma (teleomorph: Hypocrea) is a genus of filamentous ascomycete fungi that is consistently avoided by Collembola.” The study ties that avoidance to the animals’ body performance, noting that “Collembola generally display poor fitness parameters like reproduction and survival when feeding on Trichoderma species, compared to other fungi.”
The experiments then look for the chemical reason. The study describes choice tests in which “Collembola were preferentially attracted to Δvir4 mutants impaired in sesquiterpene synthesis.” Its conclusion is that “The results suggest that sesquiterpenes play an important role in fungal defence as repellents, but not as deterrents or toxins, against fungivorous Collembola.” So in this system, the smell of certain compounds works as a warning, while the animals’ survival on the fungus is a separate matter.
Food quality adds another layer. The first study states that “Several factors, such as nutrient content and secondary metabolite production, determine the suitability of fungi as food for fungivores.”
What the isotope study adds
The second study takes a different route. Its aim was “to understand feeding habits of soil microarthropods, especially focusing on springtail (Collembola).” It does not watch the animals choose a fungus. Instead, it links the age of the carbon in the animals’ bodies to their diet.
The result points toward root partners. The second study concludes that “soil-dwelling species generally feed on mycorrhizae to obtain root-derived C.” It explains the logic: “Because feeding on mycorrhiza could be a highly significant pathway for carbon input from living roots.” The study links this route to living roots.
The same study is careful about its limits. It says that “we still cannot specify animal feeding habits directly related to their ecosystem functioning,” which means that the carbon data alone do not fully define each species’ role. This is why the article keeps the two studies separate: one explains the choice of fungi by smell, and the other explains which carbon sources the animals appear to rely on.
How the two studies fit together
Read together, the two studies describe a feeding picture with several steps. The first step is detection, where odour compounds from fungi attract or repel the animals. The second step is choice, where the animals prefer some strains over others. The third step is effect, where the choice of grazed fungi can change the fungal community. The second study adds that some soil springtails also depend on carbon linked to living roots through mycorrhizae.
The second study also places these animals in a wider food web. It says that “Given that Collembola are the primary prey of many soil animals at higher trophic positions, their carbon sources will clearly affect the whole soil food web.” So the feeding habits of springtails matter beyond the springtails themselves.
Readers interested in the practical side of soil life can also read how to make leaf mold at home or how to compost at home for beginners. Those guides cover practical steps and do not replace the research explained above.
How we chose the sources
Both sources are research papers that are hosted on PubMed Central. The first examines fungal sesquiterpenes and the food preference of soil Collembola. The second uses radiocarbon and stable isotope analysis to study the feeding habits of soil microarthropods. Each URL was fetched with curl on 2026-10-28 and returned HTTP 200, and every quote in this article comes from those fetched texts.
What we could not verify
The first study tested a specific setup. Its experiments used one fungus and one springtail species, since the study says the compounds “were used to evaluate the role of this compound class in the food preference and fitness of the soil Collembola Folsomia candida.” That tells us the reported preferences come from a controlled case, not from all soil conditions.
The first study also notes a gap in the literature: “However, there is little information on the role of Trichoderma VOCs in the interaction with belowground fungivores.” The article therefore treats the Trichoderma findings as one case rather than a general rule for every fungus.
What the sources do not say
The sources do not give an amount of fungus that a springtail eats in a day, and they do not measure the whole soil food web. The second study says that the carbon sources of Collembola “will clearly affect the whole soil food web,” but the excerpt used here does not give a full measurement of that web. The sources also do not give a garden method that changes springtail feeding.
Frequently asked questions
What do springtails eat in soil?
The first study describes them as grazers of fungi. It says that “The mycelia of soil fungi are constantly challenged by predation from fungivorous arthropods like Collembola which discriminate between fungal strains and display marked preferences.” The second study adds that some soil-dwelling species “generally feed on mycorrhizae to obtain root-derived C.”
How do springtails find the right fungus?
The first study points to smell. It says that “Fungal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) serve as important cues for mycelial location and selection by soil fungivores, but may also act as repellents.” The study also notes that certain eight-carbon compounds such as 1-octen-3-ol “are known to be involved in the chemotaxis of Collembola and other fungivores.”
Are all fungi equally good food for springtails?
No, according to the first study. It says that “Several factors, such as nutrient content and secondary metabolite production, determine the suitability of fungi as food for fungivores.” The study also reports that Trichoderma is “consistently avoided by Collembola.”
Do springtails eat only fungi?
The second study does not claim that. Its findings point to mycorrhizae as one route to root-derived carbon. The study says “Because feeding on mycorrhiza could be a highly significant pathway for carbon input from living roots,” and it adds that “we still cannot specify animal feeding habits directly related to their ecosystem functioning.”
Can springtails change which fungi grow in soil?
The first study says they can. It states that “Selective grazing by fungivores can change fungal community composition,” and that “Fungivore grazing can both limit the growth of dominant species and stimulate less competitive species, leading to the reversal of competitive hierarchies.”
Sources
- Ecological functions of fungal sesquiterpenes in the food preference and fitness of soil Collembola, research paper (2024). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10878821/ (HTTP 200, checked 2026-10-28)
- Radiocarbon signature reveals that most springtails depend on carbon from living plants, research paper (2021). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8455171/ (HTTP 200, checked 2026-10-28)
