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Good to know
Six things about the hermit crab
HomeA borrowed house
A hermit crab has a soft, curly tail with no armour, so it tucks it into an empty sea snail shell for protection.
MovingMoving house
As it grows it needs a bigger shell. It checks an empty one over carefully with its claws, then swaps in a second.
DoorShutting the door
When it pulls back inside, its bigger right claw blocks the opening like a door.
ShellsWhich shells?
Small hermit crabs in rock pools often use periwinkle or dog whelk shells. Big ones offshore use whelk shells.
LodgersLodgers on the roof
Sea anemones and other small animals sometimes live on a hermit crab's shell and get carried about.
SpottingA shell that walks
If a shell in a rock pool gets up and walks off in a hurry, there's a hermit crab inside.
The real thing
Photos of the hermit crab
Photo: Olivier Dugornay (IFREMER, Pôle Images, Centre Bretagne - ZI, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Olivier Dugornay (Ifremer), CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Olivier Dugornay (IFREMER, Pôle Images, Centre Bretagne - ZI, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Out and aboutHow to spot one
Watch the bottom of a clear rock pool for a sea snail shell that suddenly gets up and hurries off. Keep still: they come out again after a minute.
Lend a handHow to help
Leave empty shells on the beach. Every shell taken home is one fewer house for a growing hermit crab.
Following youLadybird
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Bees and hoverflies
Butterflies and moths
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Beetles, hoppers and ants
Not insects at all
Snails and spiders aren't insects: a snail is a mollusc, and spiders have eight legs.
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Under a log
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River life
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