Looking down

As much is going on below ground as above. Imagine taking a tree and shaking it, collecting everything that falls out. Then try and make sense of each of the creatures and their relationships. That is is the problem we face when we have collected our little soil friends. How do we know what they do and how they relate when we cant see them moving around. Instead we have a pile of creatures just moving about. Finding way to explore this dilemma is the fascination of this area of world. And there is much to be discovered. And there must be many ways to do so. Trees and soil animals probably co-evolved over millions of years. Looking at that relationship helps us work out the conundrums going on below our feet. Most of the creatures are small - just beyond our eye sight. They are like specs. Start thinking about the soil as the world turned upside down, all the trees going down, and all the buildings underground

Starting at the top. You see birds like blackbirds, robins and starlings pecking at the ground. They eat worms and beetles and insect larvae. See Birds Eye View Having a healthy soil, rich in little creature, brings these birds in. We see the presence of birds as a good sign of soil health . Some of the creatures they will be looking for.......

Beetles

There are three main sorts of beetles that you find on the surface of the soil

Ground Beetles (Carabids)

From Royal Entomological Society "As the name suggests, many ground beetles spend their time on the ground and few can fly. The fusion of their wing cases (elytra) acts as protecting armour. Both larvae and adults are carnivorous and often specialise in eating slugs and snails, as well as eating a range of carrion. Depending on the ground beetle species, they will also attack aphids and other pest insects. Many ground beetles eat by vomiting on their prey and waiting for their digestive enzymes to make their food more fluid and easier to eat. By encouraging them into your garden you can start on the road to a natural method of pest control. Many ground beetles are nocturnal and need some form of shade during the day. Provide them with shelter such as a log pile, leaf litter or just some large stones... .See 'Beetles' for more

There are another 350 species. most voracious predators. They tend to walk rather than fly. Both larvae and adults are carnivorous and often specialise in eating slugs and snails. As well as eating a range of carrion, they will also attack aphids and other pest insects. By encouraging them into your garden you can start on the road to a natural method of pest control.

Consider ground beetles as a good indicator of soil health

This Nebria brevicollis

For my Bachelors dissertation, I used to collect them and slice their brains to try and detect any diurnal rhythms. Sad..

Sinodenron cylindricum roam over the soil surface looking for quite large prey - slugs & snails, cricket nymphs, insect larvae and isopods like woodlice, and even centipedes). Having lots of ground beetles around is a good indicator of healthy soil. They need lots of other creatures to live.

Rove beetles (Staphylinids)

From soil sample in decaying tree leaves. this is a Rove beetles) What is this creature extracted from soil sample? While it looked massive, it is only about 1mm long. It just woofed a springtail in one gulp. We know it is an insect because it has 6 legs (and 3 sections – head, thorax and abdomen) At first it looks like earwig ‘nymph’ because of the pincers at the rear. But if it has got wings, it must be an adult, as only adults have wings.

All classification of insects is based on the wings (called 'ptera'). Most have 4 wings. Flies have only 2. There is is one obvious pair here. Is it a fly? No. Because there is another pair but they don’t look like wings. but hard coverings. That means it is a beetle. Beetles are called Coleoptera which means ‘sheath-winged’. This refers to this characteristic of their forewings modified to form protective wing cases (elytra), covering the hind wings used for flight. Typical of this is when a ladybird takes off, you can see the marked wings stay static while the hind ones flap below..

It is a Rove Beetle of some sort More Rove beetle taking off More on Rove Beetles

Staphylinids, "“live in leaf litter of woodland and forest floors and grasslands. They concentrate in fallen decomposing fruits, the space under loose bark of fallen, decaying trees” These were in decomposing leaves under trees over the road. " Beetle evolution started on rotting trees.

Dung/DorBeetles (Scarabids)

Dung beetles are a group of beetles whose existence is completely dependent on animal dung. They exist in all sorts of dung, from cattle, sheep and horse through to alpaca and deer. Some are generalists whilst others are specific to only one breed of animals’ dung.

Ants

From Fundamental of Soil Ecology Coleman, Crossley & Hendrix

Ants feed on oribatid mites below ground -see grazing - more about these mites below)...

Millipedes

Milklipedes shred plants , whereas centipedes are carnivores, crawling through worm holes looking for smaller creatures like ants.

Woodlice

We take these creatures for granted as they scuttle away when we lturn over a pot or lump of wood. Yet they may play a vital part in global waring. When the earth warms up it is likely more carbon dioxide will be lost from soils as microbes work faster to digest debris. However, if there are woodlouse about, they have more microbes to feed on, and thus keep the carbon running round in their bodies, rather than released to the air. Details of study

Springtails

Some springtails can be seen on the surface. They may accumulate in water in household pots and pools. Sometimes you can just see some larger ones walking about, when you can check they are springtails, if you give thema wee poke, they SPRING an astounding distance - wiht the sprungtail - tucked under body (right)

There are three sorts od springtails, including Symphylids (courting in left),

See how they jump Sminthurid moving
HOW THESE CREATURES FIT WIDER SOIL FOOD WEB

These creatures are reacting with other creatures JUST BENEATH