Explore the secrets that live around a fallen log in an Indian rainforest

When a large tree falls, the fallen log becomes a rich source of food. The nutrients in the wood are broken down by decomposers: fungi, millipedes, wood lice, termites, and other organisms. Many plants, adapted to low light, thrive in these surroundings.

Civet scat: Civets are cat-sized nocturnal carnivorous mammals that also relish fruits. The black lumpy string on logs and rocks are their droppings, containing seeds and insect remains. Civets help disperse seeds and assist in forest regeneration.

Bulging eyes, slender legs and large, curved mandibles make the tiger beetle a capable predator. Adept in flight and fast on the ground, tiger beetles are well-adapted to the task of hunting down prey.

Millipedes have two pairs of legs on each segment and eat decaying leaves and other dead plant matter, turning it back into soil.

Not all plants have leaves! Balanophora fungosa is a leafless root parasite that gets its nutrition from rainforest tree roots. The red ball-like flowering structure is covered with many tiny female flowers and few male flowers at the base.

Paper wasps like this Vespula live in large colonies in nests made from chewed wood fibre. Every colony is established by a solitary queen. She builds the pot-shaped nest, then brings food to rear her brood of workers.

Begonias, like this Begonia malabarica, have large leaves with uneven margins and reddish pigmentation underneath that helps capture light. Their delicate flowers have brightly-coloured sepals and no petals

Wild balsams are herbs found along streams and in rainforests, producing colourful flowers during the monsoons. They gain their name, Impatiens, for their pods, which explode when touched to scatter seeds.
The orange-flowered balsam here is Impatiens verticillata.

Here is yet another balsam, with pink flowers: Impatiens acaulis.

Snails feed on fallen leaves, fruits, or even bark. They retract into their shell to escape predators or avoid dehydration.
Indrella ampulla is a large snail of the wet forests of the Western Ghats.

Dragonflies are aerial predators with large, multifaceted eyes and two pairs of strong wings. Their larvae live in water and are predatory hunters of tadpoles and small fish.
Perched close to the ground here is a Fulvous Forest Skimmer Neurothemis fulvia.

Damselflies are predators more delicate in body than dragonflies. They thrive along clean streams and waterbodies but disappear with pollution and disturbance.
This female Stream Glory Neurobasis chinensis is perched at the end of a twig.

Plants of the arum family, Araceae or aroids have large leaves and occur in the forest understorey, along streams, and swamps. Taro and yam are cultivated species in the arum family.

Orchids grow on the ground or as epiphytes—plants that grow taking the support of other plants—even high on tree trunks and branches.
This is the Bamboo Orchid Arundina graminifolia.

Another orchid is Habenaria crinifera -- this one has crinkly white flowers.

.. and here is Malaxis versicolor, a ground orchid with a spire of orange flowerlets.