How to survive in my garden; hide, run or fight

Yesterday I undertook some wanton habitat destruction, otherwise known as gardening. As usual this activity exposed many a shy species that you wouldn't find unless you had disturbed their habitat. Since they were going to be disturbed anyway I thought that I might as well take a look through the bigascope. The creature above is a Pill Woodlouse (Armadillidium vulgare).

Now the Pill Woodlouse is, like all woodlice, in the Isopod family of animals which itself is of the crustacean subphylum just like crabs and lobsters. In the first instance similar species to this appeared in Carboniferous seas of 300 million years ago but soon migrated onto land to take advantage of the rotting vegetation of the forest floor. The same forests that would turn into the coal we use today. Because the woodlouse has this ancient watery heritage it still has gills and can survive quite happily underwater.

This particular woodlouse is the amazing result of 300 million years of evolution. Whereas other woodlice are only slightly armoured, this species takes armament to extremes. When disturbed it can role up into a ball so hard and so impenetrable that no land based predator can eat it. When disturbed, this woodlouse curls up and hides.

If you can't hide what other options do you have? You could run but many garden predators are not that easy to outrun. One common survival technique is to flee into a medium where the predators can not follow you. In doing so you ensure your own survival. One species that has adapted well to its medium is the Common Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris).

The earthworm travels where few others can go. 500 million years ago in the Cambrian period, when nothing lived on the land of the earth the leeches of the seas found that they could survive the barren land by digging under its surface. It was earthworm like creatures that took that first step. When they did, there were no predators and no competition so naturally the earthworm ruled supreme.

Another species that has taken to a new medium is the Common froghopper (Philaenus spumarius). This primitive insect is the small grass dwelling insect responsible for coocoo spit. When threatened it triggers an amazing muscular reaction in its hind legs that shoots it into the air. When this happens the predator simply doesn't know where the insect has gone. The video below was shot in ultra slow motion through the bigascope and still the froghopper leaves the scene with 1/250th of a second!

The final category of creature found in the garden are those that stand their ground. These creatures include the stingers, biters and fighters. Non command respect as much as the Common Earwig (Forficula auricularia). This plucky little insect will have a go at anything and anyone that bothers it. The giant tail pincers of this creature has given me a painful nip once or twice in the past and yet I still quite like the spirit of the Earwig.