Strange - Mini-infestation

BomberHQ · #1 (**permalink**) 10-04-2006, 12:26 PM

Hi folks,

Living by the coast, we are used to seasonal infestations of spiders, woodlice, thunderflies and other creepy crawlies; but none are particularly bothersome.

However, we have recently been invaded by these little critters

:

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When alive they are greyish, and jump around like big fleas - although relative to their size, they dont jump very high, thankfully

!

They only seem to live a day or so (indoors anyway !) but we have them all over the house.

Whilst I try to find out where they are coming from, could you help me identify them ? I tried just about every search for them on Google, including "jumping indoor shrimp-like insects". Needless to say that didnt help

Many thanks.

Kevin.

Imaginos · #2 (**permalink**) 10-04-2006, 12:42 PM

They are some sort of Gammarus shrimp, as you are by the coast then it is safe to assume that they are one of the species that live on the shore. Have you recently brought any tideline debris into the house?

http://www.mbl.edu/marine_org/marine...tail&myID=BX86

henrya · #3 (**permalink**) 10-04-2006, 12:55 PM

Another possibility is landhoppers (Arcitalitrus dorrieni). An introduced species that lives in damp situations (under leaf-litter etc). Mainly coastal and in the south west. Might have come in with garden compost or pot plants, if you've not brought in tideline debris and brought in sandhoppers.

henrya

Tursiops · #4 (**permalink**) 10-04-2006, 01:02 PM

...or possibly Sandhopper (Talitrus saltator)
http://www.tonya.me.uk/Marine/tidal-...toral-zone.asp
No idea why you'd get them in the house though.

Tursiops

PS Welcome to the forum
PPS oops, henrya got there first!

Alan · #5 (**permalink**) 10-04-2006, 01:35 PM

Go down to your nearest beach and look under any washed up items, seaweed etc. When you turn the items over, you'll probably find these jumping all over the place. Turnstones and other birds love them!

Sand hopper - Orchestia gammarella

wildone · #6 (**permalink**) 10-04-2006, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BomberHQ

Hi folks,

Living by the coast, we are used to seasonal infestations of spiders, woodlice, thunderflies and other creepy crawlies; but none are particularly bothersome.

However, we have recently been invaded by these little critters

:
Attachment 708
(click for a bigger image)

When alive they are greyish, and jump around like big fleas - although relative to their size, they dont jump very high, thankfully

!

They only seem to live a day or so (indoors anyway !) but we have them all over the house.

Whilst I try to find out where they are coming from, could you help me identify them ? I tried just about every search for them on Google, including "jumping indoor shrimp-like insects". Needless to say that didnt help

Many thanks.

Kevin.

Can you upload them into the Gallery please. Always on the look out for anything a little unusual.

BomberHQ · #7 (**permalink**) 11-04-2006, 01:17 PM

Well, what can I say, other than many thanks to you all

It would seem our visitors probably hitched a ride on (in) our fire-wood, which has been seasoning in the 'shed' over the autumn and winter. We have been bringing it indoors in a sack, which we keep in a utility room.

It is strange I didnt see any of them when I split the logs, and I dont see any in the pile that remains outside (LOTS of woodlice, or "Chuggy Pigs" as my fiance calls them

), but as the sack usually lasts a couple of weeks, they could feasibly have hatched in the bark whilst indoors.

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know why they turn from grey to pink when they die ?

Well, thanks again, and I hope I can contribute too at some point in the future.

Kevin.

henrya · #8 (**permalink**) 11-04-2006, 01:27 PM

Kevin, I think if they came in on your logs, they must be the landhoppers. Have you any still around? I think I can find an address for you to send specimens for positive identification. Are you in the south-west?

As for turning pink when they die - so do lobsters (!), so maybe it's the same sort of chemical change going on. I'll try and find out.

henrya

BM · #9 (**permalink**) 11-04-2006, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by henrya

As for turning pink when they die - so do lobsters (!), so maybe it's the same sort of chemical change going on. I'll try and find out.

From a cooking website

......

"The color change is quite similar to that of the leaves of most deciduous trees, where the orange and yellow colors already present in the leaves are masked by the assertive green of their chlorophyll. When the chlorophyll breaks down in the fall, the other colors become visible.

Similarly, many lobsters, crabs, and shrimp have a variety of different colors present in their shells. The pink or red color is the pigment astaxanthin, but its molecules are wrapped up in dark protein chains. So the shells are dark. Whenever you cook a protein, though, it uncoils, or denatures, and in the case of these shellfish, that frees the red pigment and the shell changes color. "

BomberHQ · #10 (**permalink**) 11-04-2006, 03:12 PM

Ive submitted a couple more pictures to the Gallery for your delectation

I submitted them as Amphipods belonging to the Talitridae family, but Im still not sure whether they are terrestrial or semi-marine, given our proximity to the beach.

Still, the research has been fun

Kevin.

PS Henrya: We live on the West Sussex Coast and I still have a handful of the little crustaceans.