#isopods — Public Fediverse posts

Giant, deep-sea roly-polies steal a #gene to endure starvation
The football-sized #crustaceans feast when they can, then slow their #metabolism to a crawl
These #Isopods are armored, oblong crustaceans. Long ago, the creatures stole a gene from a bacterium and welded it into their own set of DNA. This may help the crustaceans tolerate extremely long periods without food in the frigid, abyssal desert.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/big-deep-roly-polies-endure-starvation
https://archive.ph/LWdMd

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 🦐🦘 Roly polies are terrestrial #crustaceans that evolved from marine-dwelling ancestors.

They share a specific trait with #kangaroos because both carry their young in a brood pouch. Female pill bugs carry their #eggs and newly-hatched young in a special pouch called a marsupium.

👉 Learn more: https://seethis.tv/post/roly-poly-pillbug-marsupium-video

#animals #babies #birth #bugs #detritivores #mating #nature #parenting #insects #marsupials #isopods #evolution #science #wildlife #entomology #zoology #ecosystem #tksst #video

🦐🦘 Roly polies are terrestrial #crustaceans that evolved from marine-dwelling ancestors.

They share a specific trait with #kangaroos because both carry their young in a brood pouch. Female pill bugs carry their #eggs and newly-hatched young in a special pouch called a marsupium.

👉 Learn more: https://seethis.tv/post/roly-poly-pillbug-marsupium-video

#animals #babies #birth #bugs #detritivores #mating #nature #parenting #insects #marsupials #isopods #evolution #science #wildlife #entomology #zoology #ecosystem #tksst #video

Ah yes, the riveting saga of #isopods globe-trotting from #Madagascar to #Montenegro 🌍🦐. Who knew these unassuming #crustaceans had a more robust #travel itinerary than even the most pretentious Instagram influencer? If only booking a vacation were as simple as listing continents and calling it a "site" 🤦‍♂️.
https://isopod.site/ #adventure #HackerNews #ngated

I am very happy to be part of and to see this review on #Isopoda and #Oniscidea (woodlice, terrestrial isopods) published in the #SoilOrganisms journal.

Many thanks to Konstantin Gongalsky & Pallieter De Smedt for leading this excellent work! 🎊

Read/download the review: https://doi.org/10.25674/466
And if you have Oniscidea data: SHARE THEM!

#OniscidBase #Isopods #Critters #SoilFauna #SoilMacroFauna #CallForData

#Springtail #Orchesella #cincta is up to 4 mm long, native to #Europe/Canada and is #herbivorous/ fungi-bacteriovorous, #living e.g.in dead plant tissue. Specimen below: on #deadwood with island-like #fungalgrowth, mites, e.g. #Linopodes, and i.a. #isopods.
G. Ernsting & J. A. Isaaks (2002) found the #dimorphic #gendersize with smaller males being due to growth inhibition by #spermatophore development.

© #StefanFWirth, #Berlin 2025

Ref
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2311.2002.00395.x

#Photos
© S.F. Wirth 2025

Antipredatory strategies of terrestrial isopods

Colourful species of terrestrial #isopods: A #Armadillidium werneri Strouhal, 1927 B #Porcellio duboscqui Paulian de Félice, 1941 C Armadillidium gestroi Tua, 1900 D Porcellio haasi Arcangeli, 1925 E "Merulanella" sp. 1 from Thailand F " #Merulanella" sp. 2 from Thailand (photographs Adrián Purkart).

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Colourful-species-of-terrestrial-isopods-A-Armadillidium-werneri-Strouhal-1927-B_fig2_360699025

I can't wait for bug season. Right now, I still have to turn over wood and dig around for them. Today, other than moss, the star at the farm were these pillbugs, wood lice, whatever you call them where you're from. All the thousands of times I've seen them in my life, I don't know if I've ever actually looked one in the eyes until today.

#isopods #wildlife #macrodon #decomposers #recyclers #oregon

I'm featuring an ecosystem rather than an organism this #MarineLifeMonday. Lasting for only a short time but providing a bonanza for #DeepSea life, a #whale fall occurs when a whale dies and sinks to the #ocean floor. The carcass provides rare #nutrients for a range of #scavengers, from microscopic bacteria to huge sharks. The whale fall shown here is an artificial one on display at the #MontereyBayAquarium, where spider #crabs, giant #isopods, and jawless #hagfish occupy a #SpermWhale skeleton.