Well, I've been meaning to make this post for a while, but just never ended up getting to it, please excuse my laziness. LOL A couple weeks ago, I took a trip to this nature preserve that I had only been to once before(before I was seriously into inverts)to look for some rotten wood for a friend of mine. It was a little after four, but since it's winter, it was already pretty dark by that time. I got out my trusty headlamp and went over to the log closest to our car and lifted it up. To my surprise, I had uncovered a nice amount of large, flat, and beautifully-patterned isopods! I collected almost all of the individuals that I saw that day and returned a couple more times ending up with a total of about eighty! During the several trips I made, I also collected about four P.scaber, which despite supposedly being one of the most common isopods in the U.S, are my first individuals that I have ever found, and trust me, I've looked! Although they are very common in the hobby, I loved finally getting my hands on this classic species.
I had originally tentatively identified the isopods that I had found as Oniscus asellus, but fortunately I was given the correct I.D by Alan Jeon. He said that they were actually Porcellio spinicornis, a lovely species that I had been wanting to get a hold of for awhile now! Also, I forgot to mention that out of the eighty or so P.spinicornis that I found, there were a couple very light colored individuals and some unusually large ones too!
Firstly, I'm currently keeping the normal P.spinicornis in a medium-sized, plastic Zip Lock container with twelve ventilation holes in each end. I'm using a substrate mix of coconut fiber and rotten wood with some dead leaves on top. I also have a piece of egg crate in there for them to hide under.
Here's some pics!
P.spinicornis |
P.spinicornis enclosure |
Here's a few photos!
P.spinicornis "White" |
P.spinicornis "White" enclosure |
Here some more pics!
P.spiicornis "Giant" |
P.spinicornis "Giant" enclosure |
I also mentioned that I collected four P.scaber, which I am currently keeping in a two-ounce, plastic deli-cup. I'm keeping these guys on the same substrate as the P.spinicornis(and all my other isopods) with a small piece of egg crate for them to hide under.
I figured I wouldn't show any pictures of their container, since it's so simple, but here's some pics of them!
P.scaber |
Here's some pics of the powder blues' and the zebras' new set-ups!
New P.pruinosus enclosure |
New A.maculatum enclosure |
Thank you all for reading another one of my very long posts and have a good night guys! :)
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