# New Isopods I'm working with



## Jake H. (Mar 23, 2010)

Isopods have always fascinated me and I'm on a mission to keep every species available in the hobby. I just ordered a few more species from Kyle over at "Roach Crossing". He is working with some really cool bugs (mostly roaches and isos) and was extremely helpful, I highly recommend ordering from him. I will also be borrowing pictures from his site, it's just so hard to photograph these things. 

I have been working with dwarf whites, dwarf purples, dwarf greys, giant oranges, and Armadillidium vulgare. Here are my new additions. 

Trachelipus rathkii "Rainbow"









Armadillidium maculatum









Armadillidium nasatum









Oniscus asellus









Cylisticus convexus









Porcellionides pruinosus









Is anybody working with any of these? How are they breeding for you? Also does anybody keep anything not listed on here?


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

Thanks for the heads-up on the new species at New Species! - Roach Crossing. I've had their _*Porcellionides pruinosus*_ for a while now and find that they're reasonably prolific.

How large are the _*Armadillidium maculatum*_?


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

I have all of those, just keep them like all my others, slower than the dwarfs to reproduce, but do decently well.


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## Jake H. (Mar 23, 2010)

radiata said:


> Thanks for the heads-up on the new species at New Species! - Roach Crossing. I've had their _*Porcellionides pruinosus*_ for a while now and find that they're reasonably prolific.
> 
> How large are the _*Armadillidium maculatum*_?


They are slightly smaller and less bulky than adult A. vulgare. I haven't taken any measurements myself but Orin McMonigle states an average length of 14mm in this book Pillbugs and Other Isopods.


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## Hayden (Feb 4, 2007)

Jake, any updates on how these guys are working out for you? I, like you, am always looking for new microfauna to culture. I've contemplated ordering from Roach Crossing on several occasions as he has lots of isos over there, but I'm always weary about shipping costs and survival rate.


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## Jake H. (Mar 23, 2010)

Sadly, the A. maculatum didn't breed and I am down to just two individuals. The T. rathkii suffered a few dryouts so I'm only down to a few adults, however I will be ordering more of them from Kyle pretty soon. 

I am culturing both locally collected and "RoachCrossing" groups of A. nasatum and C. convexus, they are starting to breed pretty quickly and have quite a few babies each clutch. The O. asellus were pretty slow to start but now I've got maybe 20 babies, so in a few months I should be able to start splitting them up. The P. pruinosus are now starting to breed but I've had a few dryouts, so I only have a few babies. I also just collected a few adult P. scaber near Stone Mountain Park, so hopefully they will start breeding relatively soon.

My last order from Kyle was only $15 to ship and not one individual arrived dead, so you shouldn't worry about that. In the next few days I will be ordering P. laevis, P. spincornis, P. scaber, more T. rathkii and P. pruinosus and I'm also going to get some Thermobia domestica (firebrats).

On my first order I also got Nauphoeta cinerea (Lobster roaches), Phoetalia pallida (Pallid roaches), Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Surinam Roaches), Blaberidae sp. "Kenya" (Little Kenyan Roaches), and Arcitalitrus sylvaticus (lawn shrimp). The lobsters and lawn shrimp have exploded and the other roaches are a bit slower going. The Kenyans are one of smallest roaches available and I'm guessing larger darts would have no problem with them.


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## Hayden (Feb 4, 2007)

Jake H. said:


> Sadly, the A. maculatum didn't breed and I am down to just two individuals. The T. rathkii suffered a few dryouts so I'm only down to a few adults, however I will be ordering more of them from Kyle pretty soon.
> 
> I am culturing both locally collected and "RoachCrossing" groups of A. nasatum and C. convexus, they are starting to breed pretty quickly and have quite a few babies each clutch. The O. asellus were pretty slow to start but now I've got maybe 20 babies, so in a few months I should be able to start splitting them up. The P. pruinosus are now starting to breed but I've had a few dryouts, so I only have a few babies. I also just collected a few adult P. scaber near Stone Mountain Park, so hopefully they will start breeding relatively soon.
> 
> ...


Great info. I'm going to have to get versed up on the latin names of these isopod species as I have quite a few, but couldn't begin to tell you what their latin names are. I have been interested in ordering some of the larger species to give them a try because 1) I have a group of Terribilis that I'm sure could handle them and 2) because I'm a weirdo when it comes to bugs in general and am just as fascinated by them as the frogs! I'd like to give the lawn shrimp a try as I've heard they are fairly easy to culture.


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## Myrmicinae (Jun 30, 2014)

Jake H. said:


> The Kenyans are one of smallest roaches available and I'm guessing larger darts would have no problem with them.


How difficult have the Kenyans been to culture? They look interesting and it seems that their smaller size might make them easier to maintain. 

I don't have any cockroaches at the moment, but I have been considering trying them out for a while.


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## Jake H. (Mar 23, 2010)

They are very easy. Just give them a few inches of soil, heat, and veggies scraps. Only the males have wings but they cannot climb plastic very well, so not much risk of escape. So far they have been a bit slow breeding, so I would start out with at least 50 mixed size individuals.


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