# Different isopod stocks



## orin (Sep 8, 2013)

There are quite a few stocks available these days for the vivarium. Here's the peach pillbug. Anyone with interesting isopods?


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## frogmanchu (Feb 18, 2011)

Dwarf whites









Giant orange









Fast isos









Skirted isos









Speckled isos









Powder blue isos









Smooth isos









P. Scaber

Pulled pics from internet to share what I'm working with so far.
Thanks for starting a great thread.
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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I have: 
dwarf purple micro
Dwarf maroon micro ( smallest species I've ever seen)
Tor Linbo Isopods ( very elongated, like an elongated dwarf white)
Dwarf grey Isopods- reproduce well in drier leaf litter
Dwarf white- least favorite of all my cultures, but reliable


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## orin (Sep 8, 2013)

I understand that the common names for different species or cultivars change and warp over time, for example:
Spanish Orange _Porcellio_ sp. > orange Porcellio > giant orange
White micropod > white dwarf
Jungle micropod > purple micro 
but some of the names you have (or photos) are for the wrong species entirely such as fast, smooth, and scaber.
Here's some neat micropills, _V. parvus_. Dwarf pillbugs are a lot bigger than micros but smaller than standards. Your speckled iso looks like an immature _A. vulgare_.


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## orin (Sep 8, 2013)

frogparty said:


> I have:
> Dwarf maroon micro ( smallest species I've ever seen)
> Tor Linbo Isopods ( very elongated, like an elongated dwarf white)


 Where are these from? Any pictures?


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## frogmanchu (Feb 18, 2011)

orin said:


> Where are these from? Any pictures?


I may have mixed a few names orin. Thanks for pointing out. The speckled are a. Vulgrae. Pull pics from cock roach crossing.

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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

Orin,

frogmanchu appears to have purloined a number of photos from this copyrighted page: Isopods - Roach Crossing . (I'm not especially opposed to the use of copyrighted material, as long as credit is given to the copyright holder.) I'm not sure where the others photos came from. It does look like the above posted photos and IDs don't necessarily correspond. 

I do think the above Roach Crossing page is one of the best references for frog hobbyists. What do you think of the common names given on the page? I do know that Kyle is working with a number of other isos that he hasn't pictured because his cultures are either insufficient or he has yet to properly identify the species. I do think we could use a standard for Iso IDs, and I think this page is a good candidate for that. My only criticisms of the page are that I would like to see some more size and gestation data.

Thanks,
Bob


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

orin said:


> Where are these from? Any pictures?


Initially I got the Tor Linbos from......Tor Linbo, go figure. 
The maroon micros I got from a fellow so-cal board member


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## orin (Sep 8, 2013)

radiata said:


> Orin,
> 
> frogmanchu appears to have purloined a number of photos from this copyrighted page: Isopods - Roach Crossing . (I'm not especially opposed to the use of copyrighted material, as long as credit is given to the copyright holder.) I'm not sure where the others photos came from. It does look like the above posted photos and IDs don't necessarily correspond.
> 
> ...


 Your link doesn't work for some reason. The orange _Porcellio_ were never identified by a taxonomist as _P. scaber _and did not come from North America. The whites were called micros since the late 90s (as opposed to the dwarf striped and dwarf fast which are twice as big) and powder blue is a bit imaginative but otherwise the names are from bugguide.


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## frogmanchu (Feb 18, 2011)

I thought they where all from same place. Only two places I use is bugs in cyberspace and cock roach crossing. I'm not out to take credit for anyone else just wanted to share my passion for bugs.

Once I get home ill let you know what I have. I a one culture that I pulled from my yard I'd as the fast isos to my knowledge
Pic below








I call them blacktails.

Also found these white pills that I'm trying to get started.








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## Michael Shrom (May 20, 2004)

I picked up some brown Florida isopods from Double D's . I'll have to take some pictures.

I'm pretty sure I caught some Philoscia moscurum under a clay flower pot this week.


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## orin (Sep 8, 2013)

frogparty said:


> Initially I got the Tor Linbos from......Tor Linbo, go figure.
> The maroon micros I got from a fellow so-cal board member


Sorry, I meant where did they come from as in a geographic area such as a state or country. Also, the age or origination of the stock. I didn't mean who gave them to you, not that it's unimportant. If you remember who gave them to you, you could ask where they came from.


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## orin (Sep 8, 2013)

Michael Shrom said:


> I picked up some brown Florida isopods from Double D's . I'll have to take some pictures.
> 
> I'm pretty sure I caught some Philoscia moscurum under a clay flower pot this week.


DoubleD's "brown Florida" isopods = Rcrossing's "powder blue" = chalky isopod or _Porcellionides pruinosus_.


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## Jonny5 (Jan 26, 2005)

Orin,

I found the maroon Pygmy Isopoda(name I gave to them) in a dart frog tank I had acquired from another old time dart frog person. If I remember correctly he did not know where they came from and thought they may have been a hitchhiker on some plants he had planted in the tank.

Best,

Jon


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

If I remember correctly, Tor Linbo acquired his particular strain of iso from the Dutch hobby


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

orin said:


> Your link doesn't work for some reason. The orange _Porcellio_ were never identified by a taxonomist as _P. scaber _and did not come from North America. The whites were called micros since the late 90s (as opposed to the dwarf striped and dwarf fast which are twice as big) and powder blue is a bit imaginative but otherwise the names are from bugguide.


The link works for me. I'm PM you the full page www.

I was surprised to see the Giant/Spanish Orange classified as _P. scaber_ on the site. Unlike the other Isos identified as _P. scaber_, it tolerates less humidity well, and possibly prefers a dry environment. 

Thanks for the info...


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## SimpleLEDLightingSystems (Jun 15, 2013)

frogparty said:


> Initially I got the Tor Linbos from......Tor Linbo, go figure.
> The maroon micros I got from a fellow so-cal board member


Hey man! Any luck with those maroon isos? Mine just seem to just be thriving but not expanding... Would like to know if you're having success and how you're keeping them? Thanks,

-Mike-


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I havent had them very long. Just expanded the culture up last week, so I know theyre growing in #s. I have them on a mix of leaf litter and shredded tree fern fiber. I feed fruit and veggie scraps. They seem to be doing fine


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

*Just when I thought I had Spanish/Orange Giant Isos figured out...*

Just when I thought I had Spanish/Orange Giant Isopods figured out, I find this page Planet Porcellio - Terrestrial Isopods with this info "*Orange Porcellio* NY Orange isopods - created from selectively bred wild orange stock from Long Island. Very handsome isopod. Available soon! $15.00 per culture of 12. (Shipping included)". Duh?


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## Michael Shrom (May 20, 2004)

orin said:


> DoubleD's "brown Florida" isopods = Rcrossing's "powder blue" = chalky isopod or _Porcellionides pruinosus_.


Thanks Orin. I kind of suspected that. Their are so many similar looking isopods I sometimes buy one the breeder has given a different name and try to figure it out later. 

Some web sites with great pictures have isopods labelled incorrectly to add to the confusion.


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## orin (Sep 8, 2013)

*Re: Just when I thought I had Spanish/Orange Giant Isos figured out...*



radiata said:


> Just when I thought I had Spanish/Orange Giant Isopods figured out, I find this page Planet Porcellio - Terrestrial Isopods with this info "*Orange Porcellio* NY Orange isopods - created from selectively bred wild orange stock from Long Island. Very handsome isopod. Available soon! $15.00 per culture of 12. (Shipping included)". Duh?


 I knew the guy from Planet Porcellio and he bought the Spanish orange Porcellio sp. many years before he "created" his own look-alike and mysteriously no longer had the Spanish orange for sale. That page may not have been updated in years.


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

*Re: Just when I thought I had Spanish/Orange Giant Isos figured out...*



orin said:


> I knew the guy from Planet Porcellio and he bought the Spanish orange Porcellio sp. many years before he "created" his own look-alike and mysteriously no longer had the Spanish orange for sale. That page may not have been updated in years.


Glad to hear it! You're probably right about the web page too - sad how many old web pages don't fade away...


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## BugsInCyberspace.com (Dec 26, 2010)

The powder blues are Porcellionides and are aptly named as reflected in this photo: Bug - Porcellionides pruinosus - BugGuide.Net

(while the photo posted earlier in this thread didn't reflect the typical look)

I've got a culture of them going too and they do all right. Nice to see you in Frogland, Orin!

Orin knows this, but to clarify, we do see lots of orange Porcellio scaber here in the US in wild populations. Though gray ones are far, far more common. These orange ones can be culled out and bred for orange offspring but they don't look as nice as the Spanish orange (AKA bright orange).

I suspect you guys are talking about PJ from NY.


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## orin (Sep 8, 2013)

BugsInCyberspace.com said:


> The powder blues are Porcellionides and are aptly named as reflected in this photo: Bug - Porcellionides pruinosus - BugGuide.Net
> 
> Orin knows this, but to clarify, we do see lots of orange Porcellio scaber here in the US in wild populations. Though gray ones are far, far more common. These orange ones can be culled out and bred for orange offspring but they don't look as nice as the Spanish orange (AKA bright orange).


 The dirt in that photo has as much blue as the Porcellionides but 
I've seen gray invertebrates called blue before. Vendors should probably change the name of the canyon dilatatus to giant blues too then. 

There are orange forms for most terrestrial isopod species and they exist for P. scaber but I have never seen one outside. "We do see lots" is not exactly a true statement. There has been some research on orange P. scaber but they looked different from the Spanish Porcellio sp. and the scientists were not able to isolate the strain in the course of the study. Isolating a pure breeding stock for a recessive trait is not all that difficult but it takes some time and effort.


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## orin (Sep 8, 2013)

The orange isopods offered through that page never went up for sale so nobody would have them. Still he previously was selling the Spanish orange Porcellio sp., maybe he used his old Spanish orange porcellio species photo instead of taking photos of the new strain he created? If he did find them in his back yard he probably let them go first (not on purpose) since I don't believe it is the same species of Porcellio. I did try looking up orange porcellio on the web but mostly we find the pictures of the widely kept captive strain of course. There is not a single orange P. scaber to be found on bugguide though there are some calico types. Here's an orange scaber from New Zealand and another from France, they are relatively narrow in shape. T.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research, Analysis and Information Network - Woodlice (Orange colour form) Porcellio scaber
INSECTES23


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## Dart_Man (Mar 23, 2013)

Ive read some loose discussion about finding isos in your yard and making cultures from them. I have read a lot of mixed feelings on it and wanted to hear more thoughts on the subject. The last thread on DB I saw was a few years old already too. Is this a safe thing to do? What is the risk of introducing something harmful to your viv? What are the proper precautions to take if this is indeed something that is acceptable? I heard some people will only use their "backyard cultures" after a year of reproduction has taken place within a culture. I have also heard that this is not necessary, and they can be used nearly immediately. I have ALSO heard that this is something to avoid all together. So, I just wanted to hear what everyone had to say again. I do not want to make a mistake that could easily be avoided.

Thanks


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