Southern Pill Isopod (Armadillidium depressum) - Woodlouse Culture
Another underrated species! A lovely isopod or 'pill bug' with a shiny smooth slate grey body, and some individuals have higher expressions of yellow spotting.
Armadillidium depressum is common to SouthWest Britain and can be found hiding under rocks, stones and logs. This species is very similar to A. vulgare but can be identified by its pleon which curves outwards like a fan. It also leaves a small gap when it rolls into a ball unlike vulgare which can fully enclose itself. These are suited to living in both humid and temperate conditions, but can take a little while to settle like most armadillidium species. We suggest providing these with at least a 3cm layer of leaf litter and rotting wood to help them feel settled.
- Adult size: 2cm
- Lifespan: 2-3 years
- Status: captive bred
- Place of Origin: SouthWest Britain
- Temperature: 18-23˚C
- Humidity: 70-80%
- Diet: Hardwood leaf litter (oak, beech, hazel etc), rotten hardwood, flake soil, organic waste/ faeces, sphagnum moss, mushrooms, variety of fruit and vegetables (favourites include cucumber, carrot, and sweet potato), sepia/ calcium supplement, protein source (fish flake, shrimp pellets, nutritional yeast)
The EntoScapes Way
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- We suggest keeping A. depressum between 21-22˚C and 70-80% humidity for best results. We keep a large colony of isopods in a 40x20x20cm critter keeper with vent holes across the lid. A smaller colony will do just fine in a 20x15x15cm enclosure.
- Like other isopods, these need a humidity gradient which can be achieved by making sure there are dry and damp areas in their environment. The best way is to provide sphagnum moss or live moss on one half of the enclosure as a 'hydration station' and keep this constantly moist. We suggest keeping the substrate moist (not soaking!) and provide plenty of bark pieces and leaf litter to allow them to seek out dryer spots.
- Make sure you use a high-quality substrate (no coco coir!) such as our Premium Millipede Edible Substrate as this will be the main food component for your isopods, and provide crushed cuttlebone or eggshells for calcium, as well as a good quality protein source once a week for optimal health. We prefer to feed vegetables to our isopods to help deter fruit fly and fungus gnat infestations, but that’s just our choice! Like many invertebrates one of their favourites is cucumber which we provide in slices and replace once completely eaten, which is around once a week.
- We recommend not keeping any protein-hungry isopods with millipedes as they can sometimes nibble on them whilst molting!
