| Androniscus dentiger | |
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| Species: | A. dentiger |
| Binomial name | |
| Androniscus dentiger | |
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Androniscus dentiger, the rosy woodlouse or pink woodlouse is a species of woodlouse found from the British Isles to North Africa. [3]
A. dentiger is a small woodlouse, at only 6 mm (¼ in) long, and is characteristically pink or orange in colour, with a yellow stripe along the midline of the dorsal surface, [4] which divides in two towards the animal's tail. It has large eyes for its size and a granular exoskeleton. [5]
In the British Isles, A. dentiger is found in a wide variety of habitats, including coastal areas, gardens, old quarries [4] and caves. [6] It lives where there is a significant amount of lime available, and is reported to show a preference for Anglican churchyards over Catholic ones because the older, Protestant churches used ox-blood mortar. [7]
In the south of its range, A. dentiger is primarily troglobitic, with populations in different cave systems being genetically isolated by the lack of migration between caves. [8] Animals like A. dentiger which prefer to live in caves, but are not restricted to the cave environment may be termed troglophilic. [9]
In North America, A. dentiger is only known to occur in greenhouses. [2]
According to some authors, A. dentiger may be considered a complex of sibling species or cryptic species . [3] Six subspecies are recognised: [1]
Armadillidium vulgare, the common pill-bug, potato bug, common pill woodlouse, roly-poly, slater, doodle bug, or carpenter, is a widespread European species of woodlouse. It is the most extensively investigated terrestrial isopod species.
Porcellionidae is a terrestrial family of the order Isopoda.
Oniscus asellus, the common woodlouse, is one of the largest and most common species of woodlouse in the British Isles and Western and Northern Europe, growing to lengths of 16 mm and widths of 6 mm.
Calconiscellus is a genus of crustacean in family Trichoniscidae. One species, C. gotscheensis, is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Porcellio laevis is a species of woodlouse in the genus Porcellio. As the species epithet laevis as well as the vernacular name "swift woodlouse" suggests, the species is capable of quick bursts of speed when provoked.
Trichorhina mulaiki is a species of woodlouse in the family Platyarthridae.
Trichoniscidae are a family of isopods (woodlice), including the most abundant British woodlouse, Trichoniscus pusillus.
A woodlouse is a crustacean from the monophyletic suborder Oniscidea within the isopods. This name is descriptive of their being found in old wood.
Trichoniscus pusillus, sometimes called the common pygmy woodlouse, is one of the five most common species of woodlice in the British Isles. It is acknowledged to be the most abundant terrestrial isopod in Britain. It is found commonly across Europe north of the Alps, and has been introduced to Madeira, the Azores and North America.
Porcellionides is a genus of woodlice in the family Porcellionidae. It includes the following species :
Ligidium hypnorum is a species of woodlouse found across Europe and western Asia. It is a fast-moving, active species which rarely grows longer than 9 millimetres (0.35 in). It is dark and shiny, and is similar in appearance to the common species Philoscia muscorum, and also the rarer Oritoniscus flavus. In Great Britain, it was first discovered at Copthorne Common, Surrey in 1873, and the majority of later records are also from South East England. It is considered a good indicator species for ancient woodland.
Armadillidium pictum is a species of woodlouse which occurs over most of Europe, except the Mediterranean Basin and Southeast Europe. In the British Isles, it is only known from a few sites, making it by some accounts, "Britain's rarest woodlouse". Since these sites are all remote from human habitation, in Cumbria and Powys, the species is thought to be native rather than introduced.
Hemilepistus reaumuri is a species of woodlouse that lives in and around the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, "the driest habitat conquered by any species of crustacean". It reaches a length of 22 mm (0.87 in) and a width of up to 12 mm (0.47 in), and has seven pairs of legs which hold its body unusually high off the ground. The species was described in the Description de l'Égypte after the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria of 1798–1801, but was first formally named by Henri Milne-Edwards in 1840 as Porcellio reaumuri. It reached its current scientific name in 1930 after the former subgenus Hemilepistus was raised to the rank of genus.
Reductoniscus costulatus is a species of woodlouse in the family Armadillidae. In the wild, R. costulatus has been found in Mauritius, the Seychelles and Hawaii, including the islands of Oʻahu and Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi. It was discovered in the Palm House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1948, 1976 and 1988, and has been found in greenhouses across Europe.
Platyarthrus hoffmannseggi is a species of woodlouse which is closely associated with ants' nests, particularly those of Lasius flavus, Lasius niger and species of Myrmica, where it feeds on ant droppings or mildew. It is white, 4 millimetres (0.16 in) long, and has a distinctive oval shape and short antennae. Its distribution appears to follow those of the ants with which it lives, and the British Isles are the north-westerly limit of its range. Elsewhere, P. hoffmannseggii extends south to the Mediterranean Sea. It is found outside Europe in North Africa and Turkey, and has been introduced to Australia and North America.
Mesoniscus is a genus of woodlice, placed in its own family, Mesoniscidae, and section, Microcheta. It contains two species – Mesoniscus alpicolus and Mesoniscus graniger – that live in Central and Eastern Europe, mostly in and around caves.
Trachelipus gagriensis is a species of woodlouse in the genus Trachelipus belonging to the family Trachelipodidae that can be found in Ukraine and Georgia.
Helleria brevicornis, the sole species of the monotypic genus Helleria, is a terrestrial woodlouse endemic to the islands and coastal regions of the northern Tyrrhenian sea. H. brevicornis is of interest due to its endemism, unique ecology and basal position in the suborder Oniscidea.
Hawaiioscia is a genus of woodlouse known from the Hawaii, Rapa Nui, and Costa Rica. The genus was originally described from Hawaii on the presence of four troglobitic species on separate islands. A species within this genus was then described from Rapa Nui which lacked troglobtic traits, but only persists in cave-dwelling relict populations. Surprisingly, another species was then described from along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.