The feeding ecology of soil animals is seldom investigated in the winter when the soil is covered with a layer of snow. Collembola (springtails) are winter-active arthropods that appear on the snow surface, especially on sunny days, and remain active in microhabitats under the snow. Since winter-active Collembola must be consuming food, we assessed the food resources for these Collembola with stable isotope and bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing methods. We collected two Desoria species from the snow surface and Tomocerus cf. jilinensis from subnivean microhabitats. The stable isotope signatures of winter-active Collembola species differed significantly from the soil litter layer. The isotopic signature of Desoria sp.1 was similar to the snow. Furthermore, the putative food resource (bacteria) ingested by Desoria sp.3 and Tomocerus cf. jilinensis were more from snow than from litter. All three Collembola species ingested a large proportion of Cyanobacteria. Moreover, a large proportion of bacteria associated with Collembola were putative symbionts. Bacterial communities and their associated metabolic functions were more similar in the two congeneric Desoria species than with Tomocerus cf. jilinensis. Our findings suggest that winter-active Collembola mainly feed on resources present in the snow layer. Stable isotope and amplicon sequencing methods are promising techniques to evaluate the diets of soil animals that remain active in snow-covered soils.

当土壤被雪覆盖时，冬季很少研究土壤动物的摄食生态。Collembola（跳尾）是冬季活跃的节肢动物，出现在雪面上，尤其是在晴天，并在雪下的微生境中保持活跃。由于具有冬季活动能力的Collembola必须食用食物，因此我们用稳定的同位素和细菌16S rRNA基因扩增子测序方法评估了这些Collembola的食物资源。我们从雪面和Tomocerus cf收集了两种马尾草。吉林亚种亚微生境。冬季活跃的Collembola物种的稳定同位素特征与土壤垫层显着不同。马鞭草的同位素特征sp.1与雪类似。此外，Desoria sp.3和Tomocerus cf.摄入的推定食品资源（细菌）。吉林省更多的是雪而不是垃圾。三种Collembola物种都摄入了很大比例的蓝细菌。此外，与Collembola有关的细菌中有很大一部分是假定的共生菌。与Tomocerus cf相比，在这两个同类的Desoria物种中，细菌群落及其相关的代谢功能更为相似。吉林省。我们的发现表明，在冬季活跃的Collembola主要以雪层中存在的资源为食。稳定的同位素和扩增子测序方法是评估在冰雪覆盖的土壤中保持活性的土壤动物饮食的有前途的技术。