The majority of my isopod collection did not make it past last year's move, but among the few species that did, there were two very unexpected survivors. This post will cover them and before I say more, let's get right into things!
Two winters ago, I made a trade with my good buddy whom I have gotten many inverts from before, Alan Jeon. This time I would be receiving some isopods, which are a good amount more shipping sensitive than other things like roaches and beetles. Temps were also quite chilly being that I live in the urban tundra also know as Chicago and he had run out of heat packs, but despite this, I (perhaps a bit foolishly) had him ship. As you can imagine, things did not exactly arrive in pristine condition. If I remember correctly, probably around half of one species arrived dead and a few of the other. But nonetheless, due to Alan's usual, copious overcounts, I still had a couple dozen of both Rhyscotus texensis (the sp. with more die-off) and Agabiformius lentus (the sp. with less die-off)! 😃 With the species revealed, let's dig deeper into them. 🙂
Rhyscotus texensis is one of the few slender "micropods" that the U.S has to offer. As the species name implies, they reside within the state of Texas in nature (but can also be found in at least AL as well) and "Texas Fast Isopod" would certainly seem like a fitting common name if they were to have one. These are pretty indistinguishable from Atlantoscia floridana, the Florida Fast Isopod, visually and indeed a buddy of mine couldn't even tell which species was which when he accidently lost the labels for his cultures! 😅 In case you don't know what A.floridana looks like, this species is coffee brown with a very glossy finish along with the aforementioned characteristics (small and slender). The mancae are the smaaaalest little things at only 1 mm in length or slightly better and are virtually transparent; very inconspicuous. Last year's move did push the colony to only about 5 individuals at one point, but they are a huge success story in that the colony is now one of my largest and I've even been able to distribute them to a couple people as well! 🙂 I currently have mine set-up in a 6 qt. enclosure with 3 1/3" ventilation holes in each end. The substrate is a moderately moist mix of compost soil, topsoil, horticultural charcoal, and cypress mulch with a clump of moist sphagnum moss in one corner for moisture regulation, three pieces of bark for hiding, and a pile of dead leaves for consumption. Unfortunately the camera I use is partially on the fritz again and so I haven't been able to get any recent pics of anything besides their enclosure; you guys will just have to accept some oldies. 😛
Enough said. Pics ahead!
R.texensis |
R.texensis enclosure
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Agabiformius lentus is a very neat, little species that seems to primarily occur in the tropics, but can also be found in at least Alabama (where my group came from) within the U.S. These guys have a very stout body-style particularly reminiscent of Alloniscus to me. They most commonly sport a tannish base color with charcoal markings although I have seen the abnormally pale individual pop up (something I have not yet bothered with isolating). I originally had these housed exclusively with my Archimandrita tesselata where they had their ups and downs, but have currently moved a few to a separate enclosure where I will try to build up a self-standing colony. The enclosure is a 64 oz. container with a good amount of pinholes poked around the rim for ventilation. The substrate is a mix of compost soil, topsoil, cypress mulch, and perlite, which I keep on the drier side. Besides that I have a moist clump of sphagnum moss in one of the corners for moisture regulation, a couple small pieces of bark for hiding, and a spot of dead leaves for consumption. Like the R.texensis, I haven't been able to get any recent pics besides of the enclosure, so most will be a bit dated.
P I C S.
A.lentus |
A.lentus enclosure |
I know I only mentioned the R.texensis and A.lentus in this post, but I did actually receive some Porcellionides virgatus in this exchange with Alan as well; very unfortunately I lost them during the move. Just thought I'd mention that for the sake of accuracy. Aaaanyway, I hope all of you enjoyed and until next time, goodbye!
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