BEWARE when you enter this part of the Zoo. Don't put your hands in ANY of the cages! What you are about to see are some of the most ferocious, blood thirsty creatures on earth. These are the predators of the soil. They are the lions of tigers of this dark world, capturing and killing their prey with ruthless efficiency. Pseudoscorpions Have a look at this beast. It looks like its from a Sci-Fi thriller, not your backyard. But these are quite common in litter and mulch. They feed on other animals, which they catch with their gruesome looking claws.  Nematodes Nematodes make up a quarter of all species of animals found in soils. This species feeds on bacteria. The dark materials in its gut are bacteria cells which it is feeding on. The picture below shows a picture of the cells in the guts of a nematode. You can see the microvilli of the intestine and some of the broken bacteria cells. Protozoa There are three types of protozoa - Amoebae, ciliates and flagellates. These animals are made up of only one cell. They cruise through the thin film of water that surrounds soil particles looking for other small organisms such as bacteria and fungi to devour. Amoebae slide over their prey, engulfing them in their own cell membrane and then slowly digesting them. This picture is of an amoeba (large organism) attacking a fungal spore (brown blob). Ciliates use the hairs (cilia) near their mouth to create currents which sweep tiny microorganisms into their mouth. You can see the cilia at either end of the ciliate in this picture Flagellates swim around with their long tail (flagella) looking for bacteria to munch on. Centipedes Centipedes deliver a fatal dose of poison to their prey with their vicious pincers at the back of their body. They are long and flat which helps them fit into long, narrow habitats like under rocks and leaf litter, where they find their unfortunate prey. If you ever see the brilliant coloured flash of a centipede crawling away to cover, be very wary of following. Their sting can be painful indeed. Flatworms This might not look all that mean, but they are some of the most blood thirsty predators in the soil. They quickly latch onto their prey, and start sucking all the blood or internal juices out, rapidly killing their prey. This millipede has been attacked by a flatworm. The flatworm has torn the millipede apart in its lust for flesh, and left very few traces remaining apart from the external skeleton.