You've just lifted a log. Move your pointer over the damp soil and your minibeast will wriggle, trundle, race or glide after you. Choose a different one at the bottom, and tap the notes to open them.
Macclesfield right now checking the sky…
The pill woodlouse can roll into a tight ball to protect its soft underside. Most other woodlice can't do this.
Woodlice are crustaceans, related to crabs and shrimps. They are some of the few that live their whole lives on land.
A woodlouse has seven pairs of legs: one pair for each of its seven main body plates.
The mother carries her eggs, and then her tiny white young, in a pouch of fluid under her body.
Woodlice breathe through gills on their back legs, so they have to stay somewhere damp.
Chiggy pig, cheeselog, gramersow, slater: there are well over a hundred local names for woodlice in Britain.
Meet them all
Lumbricus terrestris
The gardener's best friend: a long, pink-brown worm that pulls leaves underground and keeps the soil healthy.
Armadillidium vulgare
A little grey armoured tank that can roll itself into a perfect ball.
Lithobius forficatus
A fast, flat, chestnut-brown hunter with long legs sticking out at the sides.
Tachypodoiulus niger
A shiny black tube of a creature with a fringe of fine white legs, which coils up when touched.
Limax maximus
A big, pale brown slug with dark leopard spots and stripes. Surprisingly, a friend in the garden.
Carabus violaceus
A big, fast, black beetle with a violet shine round its edges, which hunts slugs at night.
Through the year
The green months are when you're most likely to see each one in Britain. The animal following you is shown in red.
Make room for them
Stack a few logs in a shady corner and leave them to rot. It's the easiest wildlife home you can make.
Sweep fallen leaves under a hedge or into a corner, not into a bin. Worms, millipedes and woodlice turn them into soil.
A compost heap is warm, damp and full of food. It will be busy with worms, woodlice and centipedes in weeks.
When you lift a log or a stone to look, lower it back gently, the same way up. The animals underneath need the damp and the dark.
Pellets can harm the hedgehogs, birds and beetles that eat slugs for you. Ground beetles and leopard slugs do the job for free.
Turning the soil over breaks up worm burrows. Spreading compost on top and letting the worms pull it down works just as well.
Real photos of the animals on this page. Tap one to see it bigger.
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons and are used under free licences. Open a photo to see who took it.
Lift a log or a big stone slowly, look without touching, and lower it back gently the way you found it. You've just looked into somebody's house.
Back to the topSnails and spiders aren't insects: a snail is a mollusc, and spiders have eight legs.
Pond animals live on the Pond page: choosing one takes you there.
Seashore animals live on the Seashore page: choosing one takes you there.