The cryptozoa

INTRODUCTION

​

Up to this point, the website has purposely grouped associated species together in their respective taxonomic orders,

duly separated into three clearly defined sections; insects, arachnids and soil and leaf-litter invertebrates.

​

Insects naturally take centre stage and, apart from a couple of minor groups such as Thysanoptera (thrips), all of the orders are represented to some degree. Similarly with the arachnids, although the smaller species, Acari (mites and ticks) and the pseudoscorpions are separated as they're better placed with the Myriapods (centipedes and millipedes), Isopods (woodlice) and Collembola (springtails).

 

However, as previously noted, there are a few organisms such as diplurans, symphylans, enchytraeids (pot worms) and earthworms that have not been individually featured, but will now be covered in this collective ‘article-based’ section.

​

Wildlife photography naturally makes you take notice of the habits, general behaviour and interactions of the creatures you're watching. The situation with insects is no different to life on the African plains, but just on a smaller scale. If you put your camera down and take time to look at the bigger scene, you'll find that there's probably a lot more going on than you realised. This certainly applies to invertebrate communities particularly as there are various habitats that could provide opportunities for observation and study, but probably the most diverse group are the cryptozoic species that live within

the top layer of soil or on the ground in leaf-litter, under logs and stones or on decaying deadwood. It's an unfamiliar term,

but the cryptozoa - derived from the Greek kruptos and zōē, meaning ‘hidden life’ - is used in ecology when referring to the creatures that live in these places or any similar dark microhabitat, such as beneath the bark of both fallen and mature standing trees, within knot holes and hollows, that could be considered a safe haven where invertebrates can live in a relatively cool, stable environment that is shaded from direct sunlight.

​

These microhabitats can be found almost anywhere where there are trees, including grassland, heathland, parks and gardens, but obviously the biggest concentration occurs in woodland and forests which is my main focus here.

 

Whilst the organic make-up of the underlying soil, leaf litter and general detritus of the forest floor is of critical importance, deadwood is the key component as it provides a home or nutrient source for many species. However, deadwood is a generic term that's often used to describe anything from a fallen branch to cut timber or from heavily decomposed wood

to a standing dead tree, so because it's such an important element it needs to be broken down - literally in the case of certain saproxylic species - and understood. Similarly with the soil and the trees themselves, which is why the first section titled woodland ecology takes a broad look at the structure of the different woodland habitats in my area and the role of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi, before moving on to the individual species that live there.

 

The cryptozoa section is also broken down, again split into three parts; soil organisms and the mesofauna that are more typically associated with the soil rather than deadwood, then life on the forest floor for the typical species you'd expect to find in the leaf-litter and hidden away under deadwood or in cryptozoic niches, and lastly the saproxylic invertebrates 

that depend on dead or decaying wood for at least part of their life cycle.