Crickets migrate into the depths of caves and mate in the sandier areas. The long antennae also allow them to sense air currents that carry odors that could lead them to find food. Millipedes often burrow in cave silt and feed on humus and certain fungi. Cave millipedes tend to have less body pigments, thinner shells, longer legs and antennae, fewer eye facets, and longer sensory bristles than surface forms. Cave millipedes can live anywhere within the cave their is moisture.
Earthworms also burrow in the mud of caves and are exactly the same as surface species.
The last organism to be reviewed on this page is neither an animal or insect. The microbial life found inside of caves are merely now being investigated by such companies as Biomes Pharmaceuticals. Over 3000 distinct forms of microbial life are known to exist only in caves. New research is studying the medical uses of these microbes against diseases such as breast cancer and heart disease. Chemoautotrophs are important members of the cave ecosystem because they obtain nutrients needed to survive from the soil, and then they are consumed by higher level organisms.