#porcellionides

[razehider]

a semi-common visitor and connoisseur of local rocks, Porcellionides cingendus is a slender little isopod with very pretty markings that i like to compare to fancy kitchen countertops. as a bonus, the species epithet is one of those that's easy to corrupt into another word, which often leads to me compulsively telling people i "found another cisgender one"

(October 17th, 2024)

[herpsandbirds]

Hey, saw this little guy in my bathroom. Don't know if I poked it to death or it's playing possum, but it doesn't quite look like a silverfish, so I'm thinking it's a firebrat?

So this is actually an isopod.

This looks to me like Powder Blue Isopod aka Plum Woodlouse (Porcellionides pruinosus), Porecllionidae, which is originally from Europe, but has been introduced around the world.

[podperson07]

risks were taken… enjoy some polyphia + powders :)

(volume issue from before was fixed!)

[uncle-norm]

Porcellio Scaber #isopod #isopodsofinstagram #isopodsandspringtails #isopodsofinsta #isopodsofig #isopodhours #isopodsquad #isopods #crustaceans #crustacean #CUC #cucofinstagram #cleanupcrewofinstagram #bugslife #bugsofinstagram #bugs #woodlice #porcellio #armadillidium #porcellionides #pillbugs #rolliepollie #potatobugs #normszoo  #normslifephotos #normb69 #BlaziNBUGS  #BlaziNBUGZ #normszoo6669  #normszoolife https://blazinbugz.godaddysites.com/ www.Blazinbugs.net (at Blazin Bugs) https://www.instagram.com/p/CaWALG_soZ3/?utm_medium=tumblr

[tser]

thegeckogal replied to your post “Hello Tser! I'm in the process of researching a bioactive enclosure...”

@tser Do you have any more tips for starting an arid bioactive enclosure? I just switched my leopard over to the Biodude's Terra Sahara and have a seperate cage for my Powder Blue isopod culture. Is 1 month enough to culture those isopods before adding to the tank?

I have a few posts on arid bioactives and general bioactive setup stuff: Different arid CUC: http://tser.tumblr.com/post/175388745299/what-do-you-think-about-darkling-beetles-as-a-leo This contains information on humid refuges for an arid bioactive:  http://tser.tumblr.com/post/173603305204/hey-there-im-trying-to-make-a-bioactive Basic Stuff to know: http://tser.tumblr.com/post/167149163824/bioactive-stuff-no-one-told-you-about (applies to all bioactive enclosures) For the isopods it’s going to depend! Powder blues are great breeders, and very hardy and prolific. However, if you got baby powder blues to start with it’s going to take a long time before they grow up and start breeding. 

Porcellio species don’t start breeding until six to nine months after they’re born, and Armadillidium may not reach reproductive age until they’re 18 months old! I believe Porcellionides (like powder blues) are likely to be closer to the former. This is one reason the dwarf white and purple species are so popular; they breed at three months old. In addition, Armadillidium species often only have babies once a year (but a large female may have almost a hundred babies at a time!), while the dwarf species reproduce many times per year (and Trichorhina tomentosa is parthenogenic).

So, if you started with adult Powder Blue isopods a month might be plenty to start them reproducing. With many prolific species, you usually end up with a gravid female or a few in an adult starter culture, which means you may have babies within weeks (the female may hold eggs in her marsupium -- pouch formed by plates on her underside -- for weeks or months depending on the species, though; I don’t know how long powder blues hold them). 

However, if you started with baby isopods then a month is not going to be long enough for them to grow and be populous enough to take care of the waste produced by your gecko. In addition it depends on how many adults you have, especially if your gecko is likely to eat some of them. Lots of leaf litter will help them hide.  My suggestion would be to add in some other CUC in addition, such as lesser mealworms, which reproduce pretty quickly, and to start at least one additional culture of isopods so that you can add in more as needed. I also recommend springs even in arid enclosures, especially during setup while everything’s settling in. Eventually they’ll probably only survive in the humid refuges in your enclosure. In the meantime while your isopods grow up and your CUC grows in, you’ll just need to do more chores in the enclosure (as I mentioned in the “Bioactive Stuff” post).  Regarding Terra Sahara, let me know how you like it. Some people seem to like it, and others find it isn’t fast enough draining, but I’ve heard mixing it with some additional inorganic material can help with that. Kinda infodumped on isopod reproduction there. Hahahaha. 

[uncle-norm]

#millipede #millipedesofinstagram ofinstagram #isopodsandspringtails #millipedeofinsta #millipedeseverywhere #millipedelove  #isopodsquad #isopods #crustaceans #crustacean #CUC #cucofinstagram #cleanupcrewofinstagram #bugslife #bugsofinstagram #bugs #polydesmida #porcellio #armadillidium #porcellionides #pillbugs #rolliepollie #potatobugs #normszoo  #normslifephotos #normb69 #BlaziNBUGS  #BlaziNBUGZ #normszoo6669  #normszoolife (at Pawtucket, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/COmLw94s3--/?igshid=t15ycqf6g4p0

[asgcreations]

Isopod Party! Isopod Party!

[ryolithica]

Terrestrial isopod crustacean Porcellionides "woodlouse"