Worms    Their role as tunnel diggers is vital to many of those creatures we’ve just described. More on identifying worms Symphyla:
 These are related to centipedes, and are their 'living in the dark' cousin. Have a look at a couple alive. They feed directly on plant roots, so can be a pest to cropsInsect larvae:   Bibionid larva above like many soil living insect larvae, with white coloured segmented body, and dark head. They turn into these Vine Weevils:
 Video of vine weevil larvae (white brown head), with pupae nearby kicking legs and hatching into adult insect. They love soil in pots. They are becoming a plague in garden centres according to RHS.Leather jackets can be a plague under lawns.
They develop into the familiar daddy long legs.
 None of the main soil creatures are 'bugs' in the proper sense of the word - ie belonging to the Order Hemiptera of Insects (like aphids and cicadas). The main arthropods in the soil - mites and springtails are not insects (although there is a debate among taxonomists as to how collembolans are related to insects). There very few insects that spend their whole lives underground. This is possibly because insects evolved after mites and springtails, as a way of escaping the soil - by taking to the wing. All insects have wings. Their classification is baesd on thier wing patterns. So Hemiptera refers to 'half' (Hemi) wings (Ptera). However wings are no use underground. So did they evolve from other soil arthropods and take flight? Springtails would be most likely ancestors. (New light on oldest insect) More on all this in Birth of the Earth
When leaves fall..
 Proturans have virtually no distinguishing features. So much so they weren't discovered till the 20th century. they feed on organic matter released by decay. They are considered the earliest 6-legged creatures to evolve. Fungi sprout mushrooms which come above ground so we see them at certain times. Fungi, alga and and bacteria work on broken down plant remains coming out of the mites/ worms, turning chemicals like Lignins and cellolose – hard bits, into simpler carbohydrates Humification is the name of the process that does this, turning leaves and other plant debris into
Mites (Key for Mites)
 Worms mangle organic matter but it is the myriad of mites that break down organic matter into v small parcels for fungi and bacteria to act on. The 'mesofauna' break down the leaves – springtails prising apart leaves. But mainly oribatids The process of 'humification' - turning dead matter into humus, involves many different soil animals. (Build this later)' Predatory Mites
Another group of mites – Mesostigmata.  Click to see one having a meal They have a long proboscis tofeed on nematodes…and yummy springtails (clip form my video). Perhaps they should become the 'Indicator of healthy soils'? Like all great predators - like hawks and buzzards, their presence means there must be prey about - indicating that there are a lot of soil 'bugs' about. Like these.. Nematodes
 The third main group of soil mesofauna, alongside springtails and mites, are nematode worms. Pretty boring looking - basically just a sheath covering the guts.  See how Nematodes move. Some are directly parasitic on plants but many are bacterivores and fungivores not feeding directly on soil organic matter, but on the bacteria and fungi which have decomposed organic matter  Fungi  Onychiuridae (Springtails)  Some sorts of fungi consume nematodes by sticking the nematodes to their hyphae.
Bacteria are tiny, one-celled organisms about (1 µm). A teaspoon of decent soil 100 million - 1 billion bacteria. That is as much mass as two cows per acre. – a tonne. Bacteria dot the surface of strands  Most are bacteria consume simple carbon compounds, such as root exudates and fresh plant litter, convertingl organic matter into forms useful to the rest of the organisms. Somes can break down pesticides and pollutants in soil. Decomposers prevent the loss of nutrients, such as nitrogen, from the rooting zone. Bacterial pathogens include Xymomonas and Erwinia species, and species of Agrobacterium that cause gall formation in plants. Chemoautotrophs obtain energy from compounds of nitrogen, sulfur, iron or hydrogen instead of from carbon compounds. Nitrogen fixing bacteria also live closely with roots.  The bacteria invade root hairs and multiply making the nodules (below), where the bacteria convert free nitrogen into nitrates which is like a natural fertiliser for the plant. |
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