Woodlouse
| Woodlouse | |
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| Armadillidium vulgare | |
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| Suborder: | Oniscidea Latreille, 1802
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Woodlice (known locally under many names; see below) are terrestrial crustaceans with a rigid, segmented, calcareous exoskeleton and fourteen jointed limbs. They form the suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda, with over 3000 known species.
Woodlice need moisture because they breathe through gills, called pseudotrachea, and so are usually found in damp, dark places, such as under rocks and logs. They are usually nocturnal and are detritivores, feeding mostly on dead plant matter. They should be considered beneficial garden organisms as they recycle nutrients back into the soil. In artificial environments such as greenhouses where it can be very moist, woodlice may become abundant and damage young plants.
In the United Kingdom there are 37 native or naturalised species ranging in colour and in size (3-30 mm) of which only five are common: Oniscus asellus (the common shiny woodlouse), Porcellio scaber (the common rough woodlouse), Philoscia muscorum (the common striped woodlouse), Trichoniscus pusillus (the common pygmy woodlouse) and Armadillidium vulgare (the common pill bug).
They have a shell-like exoskeleton. As the woodlouse grows, it must progressively shed this shell. The moult takes place in two stages. The back half is lost first, followed two or three days later by the front. Some woodlice are able to roll into a ball-like form when threatened by predators, leaving only their armoured back exposed. This ability explains many of the woodlouse's common names.
A female woodlouse will keep fertilised eggs in a patch on the underside of her body until they hatch into small, pink offspring. The mother then appears to "give birth" to her offspring.
Common names
Common names for woodlice vary throughout the English-speaking world. They include: "armadillo bug" [1], "monkeypea" [2], "cheeselog" (Reading, Berkshire) [3], "doodlebug" (also used for the larva of an antlion) [4], "pill bug" (usually applied only to the genus Armadillidium) [1], "roly-poly" [5], "slater" [4] and "sow bug" [4].
Woodlice in fiction
- In To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character Scout pokes a roly-poly.
- Tuck and Roll were the woodlouse acrobats who appeared as supporting characters in the Pixar film A Bug's Life. They have been immortalized in a "Tuck and Roll's Drive'Em Buggies" ride in a bug's land at Disney's California Adventure Park.
- The giant creatures called Ohmu in Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind also resemble woodlice.
- Giant woodlice (larger even than a giant isopod) are infrequently featured in the webcomic WIGU.
- The Gustav, a mecha from the Zoids franchise, is similar in design to a woodlouse.
- In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, woodlice are fed to bowtruckles.
- Dink Smallwood includes the woodlouse as an enemy.
- In a Rugrats episode, Chuckie Finster kept one as a pet, but it died a few days after. Its name was Melville.
- In the underground cartoon Salad Fingers by David Firth, there was a woodlouse named "Bordois" in which Salad Fingers referred to as his "little sister." Unfortunately, Bordois died a tragic death by being flattened when Salad Fingers tried to pet her. "You've gone flat, little sister, and you're all gooey! I shan't play with you again until you've had a wash."
- Woodlouse are part of the story in the movie 'Tierra' by Julio Medem.
- In La métamorphose des cloportes movie woodlice (cloportes) are a part of the title, and shots of woodlice appear during opening credits.
- In Lexx The dark Zone, the Gigashadow resembles a gigantic, planetsized woodlouse. The Lexx-Logo resembles a rolled up woodlouse as well.
Woodlice as pets
Woodlice can make ideal pets in that they are very cheap and easy to care for, and, in the eyes of a patient and curious "owner", lead very interesting lives. All you need is an aquarium (or any other container that will not disintegrate, preferably with see-through walls, such as glass or plastic) and filling (dirt; dry leaves, preferably from the deeper layers of the soil, since these are more rotten and easier for the woodlice to swallow; also twigs, mushrooms, or anything you find in the garden close to where you found the woodlice). The animals themselves can be found under stones or rotten logs, as well as under layers of dry, rotten leaves in the backyard.
The most important thing to do to care for the woodlice is to spray water vapor on top very often -- but not so much that mildew appears, since that may kill the creatures. If the air is very dry, as on hot summer days, you should even pour half a glass of water on top. Feeding is not necessary, but optional. An occasional almost-rotten leaf, a very small slice of half-rotten banana or apple will do. Eventually, if sufficient care is taken, the woodlice will breed (at night), producing very small, white offspring. Do not forget that woodlice are nocturnal, which means that they will be most active when it is dark for a few hours. Also, springtails and millipedes will live contentedly among the woodlice, eating the same food.
Gallery
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Woodlice in tree bark
See also
- Woodlouse hunter spider
- Giant isopod, the woodlouse's giant aquatic cousin
External links
References
- ^ a b Bill Amos (2002-08-10). "Little armored tanks". The Caledonian Record.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Woodlouse (a poem)". 1998-04-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Paul Kerswill. "The sound of Reddin". BBC. Retrieved September 17.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c ""Sow bug"". Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). 2006. Retrieved September 17.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Roly-poly". Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). 2006. Retrieved September 17.
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