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Description
I got to illustrate a freshly published book about soil ecology and the amazing variety of creatures that live beneath our feet. The book is published by the Finnish publisher Gaudeamus and called Elämää maaperän kätköissä ("Life hidden in the soil"). It was lovely to be able to work with experts of each taxon to depict them as anatomically correct and lifelike.

These are typical representatives of three important groups of soil arthropods: the insects, the arachnids, and the isopods.

Top image is Formica aquilonia, apparently called the Scottish wood ant in English. It's an ubiquitous species in the coniferous forests of Northern Eurasia, known for its impressive mound nests and considerable ecological impact. They care for their numerous aphid cattle, form paths into the forest floor and transport huge amounts of nutrients to their nest site.

In the middle stalks a female wolf spider of the species Alopecosa aculeata, carrying an egg sack. This extremely widespread species can be found all the way from North America and Japan to Finland and Turkey. Talk about a successful spider! This species does not use a web to hunt, but instead runs after its prey. When I was a kid, we used to catch these female spiders, take their egg sacks and give them back another female's eggs. This somewhat cruel childish curiosity showed that these spiders will happily adopt if deprived of their own babies.

Bottom image is the common pill-bug (Armadillidium vulgare), also known as potato bug, roly-poly, doodle bug, or carpenter. The number of amusing names alone shows that people find these critters fascinating! It might seem odd that they are in fact land-living crustaceans - but technically, so are insects. This peaceful, social animal grazes on decaying plant matter, lichen and algae. In Finland, pillbugs and other terrestrial isopods are mostly restricted to the southern part of the country, especially decidous forests, gardens and parks. The soil and environmental conditions of boreal coniferous forests are apparently not well suited for isopods.

Description
I got to illustrate a freshly published book about soil ecology and the amazing variety of creatures that live beneath our feet. The book is published by the Finnish publisher Gaudeamus and called Elämää maaperän kätköissä ("Life hidden in the soil"). It was lovely to be able to work with experts of each taxon to depict them as anatomically correct and lifelike.

These are typical representatives of three important groups of soil arthropods: the insects, the arachnids, and the isopods.

Top image is Formica aquilonia, apparently called the Scottish wood ant in English. It's an ubiquitous species in the coniferous forests of Northern Eurasia, known for its impressive mound nests and considerable ecological impact. They care for their numerous aphid cattle, form paths into the forest floor and transport huge amounts of nutrients to their nest site.

In the middle stalks a female wolf spider of the species Alopecosa aculeata, carrying an egg sack. This extremely widespread species can be found all the way from North America and Japan to Finland and Turkey. Talk about a successful spider! This species does not use a web to hunt, but instead runs after its prey. When I was a kid, we used to catch these female spiders, take their egg sacks and give them back another female's eggs. This somewhat cruel childish curiosity showed that these spiders will happily adopt if deprived of their own babies.

Bottom image is the common pill-bug (Armadillidium vulgare), also known as potato bug, roly-poly, doodle bug, or carpenter. The number of amusing names alone shows that people find these critters fascinating! It might seem odd that they are in fact land-living crustaceans - but technically, so are insects. This peaceful, social animal grazes on decaying plant matter, lichen and algae. In Finland, pillbugs and other terrestrial isopods are mostly restricted to the southern part of the country, especially decidous forests, gardens and parks. The soil and environmental conditions of boreal coniferous forests are apparently not well suited for isopods.