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Hidden Minibeasts

Pam Atkinson writes I can remember taking a pile of my 'active' compost to Boughton Heath School some years ago, spreading it out on tables and letting the children poke around in it. They were excited and fascinated by what they found and could see that compost is alive. I doubt they really understood the part that each of the creepy crawlies plays in turning garden rubbish in to 'new' soil. If you get down on your hands and knees you will find all sorts of life in the 'litter', under stones or logs or hiding in the grass.

Here are just a few of the many creepy crawlies you can find in the park.

Woodlice

They are essentially aquatic and manage to live on land by carrying their water around with them as a thin film on their underside, where five pairs of gills enable them to breathe. They flourish in damp conditions - if they dry out, they suffocate. They feed on dead and decaying plant matter in a most effective, if rather off-putting, way. They first feed on coarse material allowing the bacteria to move in. They then eat their own droppings and because the bacteria have broken down the nutrients, they get enough goodness to keep them going.

Earthworms

Four main kinds live in gardens. Big liver-purple ones live deep in the ground, up to 3 metres deep. They live a long time and are very important for the drainage of soil and for the way they incorporate organic matter into the soil.

Smaller pink or brown worms have shallower horizontal borrows.

Small, very active bright pink worms live under stones or in leaf or moss litter.

Yellow banded brandlings are found in compost heaps and kitchen wormeries.

Worms are the stars when it comes to breaking down the dead plat materials that pile up in the park. When they have played their part, bacteria and fungi take over. This is nature's efficient recycling system that works so well that we don't even notice it.

Centipedes

They don't have 100 legs, usually about 30 - one per segment. They are fierce predators of fly maggots, snail and slug eggs and small earthworms. They have poor eyesight and hunt by scent and touch, using their long antennae.

Millipedes

You would think with double the number of legs, millipedes would be fast movers but they are much slower than centipedes. They only eat plants but gardneres really have nothing to fear.

Devil's Coach Horse

This beast is fierce and black, and when prodded will take up this aggressive posture. It hides under stones and debris by day, hunting slugs and other invertebrates by night.

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