Any woodlouse experts ?

[goosey]

Here is another photo of one I took earlier which shows its legs better. I didn't think getting one of it rolled up would have mattered - sorry - but it was a perfect little ball. I will have another look tomorrow.

[hsl]

Originally Posted by goosey

Here is another photo of one I took earlier which shows its legs better. I didn't think getting one of it rolled up would have mattered - sorry - but it was a perfect little ball. I will have another look tomorrow.

I have saw those many times but I didn't take them as being woodlice because of the fact they could roll up into a ball so well and looked armoured more like rhinos!

[goosey]

Here is a photo of one rolled up from today.


Sorry Lord V if I have hijacked you thread - but I checked to see if you had your answer before I started bombarding it too much.

[C C]

Woodlice are great en they These posts have made me want to get out, and to a bit more.

Sorry Goosey-i am stumped. Looks like a type of Armadillidium?
Don't think its A. vulgare. Yet again i dont get Armadillidium in my area, and have never seen one. Considering they are one of the commonest British species. The ant woodlouse has replaced this, for one of the commonest in my area.

P.S I thought it right to comment, although i have PM you.

[C C]

Originally Posted by nightshade

I have always disliked woodlice,as plant destroyers, and cheer for the spider
Dysdera Crocata which seems to be the only predator they have!
This thread has given me a little more time for them,does anyone know of
other predators

I have just read, there is a recipe for woodlouse sauce. So i guess humans eat these as well. And they were apparently used for indigestion. Would'nt fancy them myself
Also Centipedes eat alot of woodlice.

[goosey]

Originally Posted by C C

Woodlice are great en they These posts have made me want to get out, and to a bit more.

Sorry Goosey-i am stumped. Looks like a type of Armadillidium

Originally Posted by C C

I have just read, there is a recipe for woodlouse sauce. So i guess humans eat these as well. And they were apparently used for indigestion. Would'nt fancy them myself
Also Centipedes eat alot of woodlice.

Thanks for all your help, I think I will pass on the woodlouse sauce .

I am off to the library to see if I can find anything that is right -a Latin name would solve a lot of questions.

I hope you get out soon and get to do some hunting though,

[goosey]

I am back - don't worry it should be the last time !

Well C C, I hope you dont find any of these on your hunt - it's not good news for the little blue woodlice.
After all the searching it turns out they are Oniscus asellus - common woodlice, but they have been infected with Iridovirus, which makes them turn blue before they die! In my first post I said I thought that some were dead, but I didn't want to disturb them so didn't investigate more.

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by goosey

After all the searching it turns out they are Oniscus asellus - common woodlice, but they have been infected with Iridovirus, which makes them turn blue before they die! In my first post I said I thought that some were dead, but I didn't want to disturb them so didn't investigate more.

Your blue woodlice aren't Oniscus asellus - that species doesn't roll up. Maybe other species can be affected by Iridovirus too

[goosey]

Oh you are right Tiggrx - I have just gone back to the article and it is the Porcellio scaber . I was so busy trying to translate the Dutch I copied the wrong species - sorry.

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by goosey

Oh you are right Tiggrx - I have just gone back to the article and it is the Porcellio scaber . I was so busy trying to translate the Dutch I copied the wrong species - sorry.

Sorry, that's another non-rolling species - most likely a species of Armadillidium

[C C]

Thats interesting, never knew about they got that virus. Just done a google and found this whatsthisbug.com/Pill.html

Sorry i can never get links to work.

[Monkster]

Hopefully this will work CC

What's That Bug? Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Isopods, Lawn Shrimp and Amphipods

Fingers crossed

[goosey]

Thanks Christian for the Link, and Monksker for getting it to work (don't worry CC, about not getting it to work - I couldn't even find it when I Googled it). It is a good image for comparison! At least I got the right virus even if the species was wrong, but I double checked of course, and it did say it was the Porcellio scaber. Thanks everyone .

[Lord V]

Interesting re these virus infected woodlice- will have to keep a lookout for one
Brian V.

[Pudding4brains]

Hi All!

I just stumbled on this thread while looking for woodlouse images, and although it's a somewhat 'oldish' thread I would like to alleviate some possible confusion.


This is Porcellio scaber. Although the typical colour is "gray" this orange colour is one of the usual colour varieties in female and has nothing to do with "freshly shedded".



This one is certainly infected with an iridovirus. It is not Porcellionides pruinosus (the abdomen/pleon of those is not as wide as the thorax/pereion), and certainly not an Armadillidium. The image is not quite clear enough to say with any certainty what species it is. If this animal did (somewhat) roll into a ball it might have been Porcellium conspersum, but most likely it is either 'just' Porcellio scaber (most probably) or maybe Oniscus asellus.



This is a healthy Oniscus asellus.



This is an Armadillidium vulgare infected with the iridovirus. And the next one aswell:



Woodlice infected with the iridovirus become bright blue/violet and usually die after a few weeks.

To correct another wrong: Woodlice are not generally harmful to your plants. Some species might nibble a bit at living plants but not usually resulting in great damage. Contrary they are very useful in cleaning up dead plant material.

Cheers!
Arp

[The Black Rabbit]

I'm afraid I don't know anything about Woodlice.
Apart from the fact that I was told in a pub once, about them allegedly drinking water through a straw from their anus???
Anyway.... this one I photographed below was on my coffee mug t'other day.
Strange? I thought. Not dark, and not moist. (well, the coffee was, but the mug wasn't).
Doug

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Doug,

Originally Posted by The Black Rabbit

Apart from the fact that I was told in a pub once, about them allegedly drinking water through a straw from their anus???

Well, that's more or less true

Woodlice are very sensitive to just the right moisture conditions. If in need of water they can press together their inner uropods (the double 'tail'-like structures sticking out from behind). This forms a narrow space between them (capilair) that sucks up some water that they can hence indeed take in through their anus. In much the same way they can also loose excess water again.

Your animal is almost certainly Porcellio spinicornis. I don't quite like the colour pattern 100%, but the dark head, small rounded frontal lobe and the "spine" on the second antenna segment are mostly clear enough to ID it as such.

This species is one of the least moist dependent "slaters" and is often found in relatively dry environments such as stone walls etc. Maybe your coffee cup had some condensation on it (damp on the outside) that is was trying to pick up?

Greetings
Arp

[The Black Rabbit]

Originally Posted by Pudding4brains

Hi Doug,

Well, that's more or less true

Woodlice are very sensitive to just the right moisture conditions. If in need of water they can press together their inner uropods (the double 'tail'-like structures sticking out from behind). This forms a narrow space between them (capilair) that sucks up some water that they can hence indeed take in through their anus. In much the same way they can also loose excess water again.

Your animal is almost certainly Porcellio spinicornis. I don't quite like the colour pattern 100%, but the dark head, small rounded frontal lobe and the "spine" on the second antenna segment are mostly clear enough to ID it as such.

This species is one of the least moist dependent "slaters" and is often found in relatively dry environments such as stone walls etc. Maybe your coffee cup had some condensation on it (damp on the outside) that is was trying to pick up?

Greetings
Arp

Cheers Arp!
As long as it wasnae trying to drink my coffee through its backside, that would be a little more than I could take!
Doug

[haematocephalus]

Hi Arp,

Thanks for all your woodlouse postings today, fascinating stuff!

Martin

[m1.carson]

Hi,

A common house spider, female I think, failed dismally on a woodlouse, never went for a devils coachhorse, played footsie with a smaller spider and let it go.
All that was about six weeks ago, haven't seen her out of her web since.

Max.

[Pudding4brains]

Hi again,

@Doug: Well, as long as he's on the outside of the mug he can try all he wants

@Martin: Thanks - glad it pleases you

@Max: Mostly only the very specialized Woodlouse spider with especially adapted very strong "jaws" will be successful - because of the "woodlouse proof" jaws it's also one of the very few spiders that can pierce human skin.

@All: As in this topic Porcellionides pruinosus was mentioned several times and I can't seem to find the animal on the forum or galleries (?) I cooked up a little comparison:



Left: Porcellionides pruinosus
Note the narrow pleon (abdomen), white legs and banded antenna and no frontal/lateral lobes on the head.
- Top: "Typical" blue colour
- Btm: Brownish variety

Right: Porcellio scaber
Note the pleon width continuous with the thorax, orange first antenna segment (not always, but often!) and the triangular frontal lobe and large lateral lobes under the eyes.
- Top: Blue color due to infection with iridovirus
- Btm: Natural color varieties of a population.

Hope that clears up the "pruinosus" situation.
Cheers!
Arp

[juliejam]

A lovely set of pic's..some great detail...I collect a few of these every now and then from under my garden pots and feed to my Chile Rose Tarantula...she loves them...



Julie

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Julie,

Originally Posted by juliejam

...I collect a few of these every now and then from under my garden pots and feed to my Chile Rose Tarantula...

Well, yes ... in my reply to Max I probably should have mentioned that most native spiders can't crack them

Btw, I'm guessing you're only referring to the Porcellio scabers (right hand side in picture). If you also find the left hand side beasties (Porcellionides pruinosus) it is possible that British surveyers would like to know the location to get a better picture of it's distribution. These are not extremely rare, but not extremely abundant either - well, at least in the Netherlands they aren't

Cheers!
Arp

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Lord V

Interesting re these virus infected woodlice- will have to keep a lookout for one
Brian V.

Yes, I've heard of the iridovirus but never seen infected woodlice. Is the disease widespread?
Oh, and welcome, Arp.