What is a woodlouse classified as?

What is a woodlouse classified as?

A woodlouse (plural woodlice) is a crustacean from the monophyletic suborder Oniscidea within the isopods. They have many common names and although often referred to as terrestrial isopods, some species live semiterrestrially or have recolonised aquatic environments.

What group do woodlice belong to?

Crustacea
Woodlice (also called sow bugs, pill bugs and slaters) are terrestrial isopods (class of Crustacea, sub-order Isopoda) of the family Oniscidea, which have invaded terrestrial habitats from aquatic environments.

Why is a woodlouse a crustacean?

They are relatives of prawns and crabs, and are known as crustaceans. They have segmented bodies and a hard outer layer. While most crustaceans live in water, woodlice live on land but breathe through gills like fish. Woodlice moult, which means they shed their old skin and grow new skin.

Is a woodlouse a parasite?

Terrestrial isopods are soil macroarthropods that have few known parasites and parasitoids. All known parasitoids are from the family Rhinophoridae (Insecta: Diptera). The Neotropical woodlouse Balloniscusglaber was parasitized by two different larval morphotypes of Rhinophoridae.

How do I identify a woodlouse?

The common woodlouse has smooth, shiny, grey ‘armour’ (an exoskeleton made up of segments or ‘plates’) with yellow patches and lighter grey edges.

What are the characteristics of a woodlouse?

They are flat, oval and uniform grey with a thick, bumpy exoskeleton and have seven body segments, each with a pair of legs. Though they look like millipedes, woodlice are actually crustaceans, related to shrimps and crabs.

Is a woodlouse a consumer or decomposer?

There are many invertebrate decomposers, the most common are worms, flies, millipedes, and sow bugs (woodlice). Earthworms digest rotting plants, animal matter, fungi, and bacteria as they swallow soil.

Is a woodlouse a roly poly?

The Common Woodlouse (Armadillidum vulgare) is also known as the Roly-Poly or Pill Bug. As their Latin name suggests, they can roll up like an armadillo. They are familiar, but by no means vulgar.

What is the scientific name for a woodlouse?

Oniscidea
Woodlouse/Scientific names

Is a woodlice a crustacean?

Woodlice may look like insects, but in fact they’re crustaceans and are related to crabs and lobsters. A woodlice has 14 legs and an outer shell called an exoskeleton. When a woodlouse grows too big for its exoskeleton it has to moult to allow a new shell to take its place.

Is a woodlouse a Beetle?

Woodlice may look like insects, but in fact they’re crustaceans and are related to crabs and lobsters. Woodlice are sometime called pill bugs and slaters. The pill woodlouse gets its name because it can roll itself up into a ball.

Can a woodlouse fly?

Small to medium-sized flies resembling slim tachinids (but without a subscutellum) or certain calliphorids (but with inner margin of the lower calypter diverging from the sides of the scutellum. The eight British species all have larvae that develop as internal parasitoids of woodlice.

What is the scientific name for the woodlouse?

The Woodlouse is actually a crustacean, not an insect! What is the scientific name for the Woodlouse? The scientific name for the Woodlouse is Oniscidea. How many species of Woodlouse are there? There are 3,000 species of Woodlouse.

What kind of environment does a woodlouse live in?

They have many common names and although often referred to as terrestrial isopods, some species live semiterrestrially or have recolonised aquatic environments.

Is the woodlouse an insect or a crustacean?

The woodlouse is not an insect but a crustacean, that has 14 parts to its body, which gives the woodlouse the flexibility to be able to curl into a ball to protect itself from danger.

How many species of woodlice are there in the world?

It’s thought there are about 3,500 species of woodlice in the world, and 35-40 of these can be found in the British Isles. Woodlice are sometime called pill bugs and slaters.