What factors affect Woodlice? Woodlice are most common in soils with neutral or alkaline pH, good crumb structure, high organic matter content, and where
soil bacteria and other macro-decomposers such as earthworms and millipedes flourish
. They tend to be absent from acid and waterlogged soil.
Why do woodlice prefer dark and humid conditions?
In a choice chamber with dark damp, dark dry, light damp, and light dry areas, woodlice accumulate largely in the dark, damp compartment. The humid and dark environment
prevents them from desiccating (through water content loss from their skin surface) and allows them to hide from possible predators
.
Why do woodlice prefer damp dark conditions?
Woodlice are crustaceans – part of the same group of animals as crabs, lobsters and shrimp. Crustaceans breathe using gills. In woodlice, these are found on the legs.
For the gills to work effectively, they must be kept moist
which is why woodlice prefer a damp habitat!
Where do woodlice like to live?
Woodlice like
damp, dark places
and can be found hiding in walls, under stones and in compost heaps. Some species such as the common sea slater are only found on the coast. A woodlice has 14 legs and an outer shell called an exoskeleton.
Do woodlice like warmth?
Woodlice thrive in moist conditions, so they don't usually survive long inside thanks to our tendency to maintain a dry, warm indoor environment
.
INTRODUCTION Woodlice lose water rather rapidly by
transpiration into unsaturated air
(Edney, 1951).
To protect themselves,
some Woodlice curl into a ball
. When curled up, the legs and feelers are protected under the outer covering. Carr Slaters and Striped Woodlice escape predators by running very fast.
Woodlice usually show a preference for a
damp environment
. Given a choice of light or dark, they usually show a preference for dark. It could be interesting to establish which preference is stronger – dark or damp.
Woodlice have a negative photokinesis-
they move faster as the light stimulus increases
. This has great survival value because bright places tend to be drier and dark places tend to be damper.
Because woodlice have very simple eyesight, Nora thought that maybe they use
dark and light colors
to decide where to go. They might choose to move towards darker colors and away from lighter colors to prevent ending up above ground where predators can easily find them.
Woodlice tend to move quicker in dry places than damp places. You may also see them ‘clump' together. This
helps them to reduce their water loss as it reduces the surface area that is in the open air
, as by less air passing their outer layer, less water is lost in that way.
Woodlice, also known as armadillo bugs, cheeselogs and pill bugs, are not insects but crustaceans. They breathe through gills which are attached to the swimming legs on their abdomen; moist tubes extract oxygen from the air but
if submerged in water they can survive for about an hour
.
Compared to woodlice exposed to normoxic conditions, woodlice exposed to hypoxia selected microsites with lower temperatures (F
1 , 74
= 11.66, p = 0.001); on average, the preferred temperatures under hypoxia and normoxia were
17.68°C
and 20.93°C (Fig 2), respectively.
This is wrong, your house should be waterproof. Perhaps you have paving sloping towards the house, or a leaking downpipe or gutters. Your house should not be damp enough for woodlice to like it.
They are not sheltering from the rain
.
Woodlice
come indoors mainly during the winter and early spring, usually searching for protection from the cold weather
. They don't come indoors to breed but there may be a colony of woodlice near an entrance to the house.
But is it harmful to humans? No. Despite its fearsome appearance, the woodlouse spider is usually timid and
will only bite humans when provoked, i.e. handled
. The venom injected during a bite will kill woodlice and other spiders, but the poison will not cause fatalities in humans.
The woodlouse is clearly pregnant. On her belly, past her wriggling legs, there is a yellow-ish bulge: the ‘marsupium', where woodlice carry their eggs for
six weeks
.
Oxygen-rich blood of woodlouse is blue-colored
. Natural enemies of woodlice are shrews, toads, centipedes, millipedes and spiders.
Some people may not regard woodlice as the most stimulating of pets, but
most species breed readily in captivity
and make an interesting addition to a classroom or laboratory display. Ideal containers are clear plastic sandwich boxes containing a thin layer of soil, a few pieces of bark and some leaf litter.
