Springtails are the most numerous and wide-spread insects in terrestrial ecosystems. They are important ecotoxicological test organisms and have been used extensively to indicate the effects of environmental pollutants and different agricultural regimes on biodiversity in soils. This comprehensive work by the co-author of The biology of millipedes is the only single-volume review of the biology of springtails in the English language to appear this century. The book covers classification, behaviour, physiology, evolution, ecology, and ecotoxicology. An extensive reference section with more than 2500 entries is included together with a complete list of all Collembola genera, a list of studies on the effects of chemicals on springtails, and reference to species checklists for most countries of the world.