Snow Flea Boreus hyemalis

A unique and distinctive species and the only British representative of its family. Snow Fleas are rarely recorded in Norfolk but are easily overlooked due to their small size (much smaller than I had imagined before I saw these). They are usually found in moss and seem to be especially fond of Polytrichum.

Vanna Bartlett had found Snow Fleas at this location and I'm grateful to her for providing me with details. I'm also grateful to Mike Ball who arrived at the same time as me but having seen them with Vanna previously, appreciated how tiny they were and was therefore able to pick them out more easily than I would have done having expected them to be larger. All the individuals we saw were on moss-covered tree stumps, and all were males. My in-field photos turned out to be quite disappointing so I was glad I took one individual home for slightly better photos.

male Snow Fleas Boreus hyemalis, Felbrigg Wood (Norfolk, UK), 24th February 2026