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All my woodlouse dreams have come true!

  • #21
That guy I mentioned has a few species of something he calls "micropods" on his list but I can't find any images online of any insect when I search for that. They might be 1/8" or less but what they are I don't know since he didn't list the species name.
 
  • #22
I have seen some white, very small isopods for sale. My orange ones produce numberous babies so there are always lots of small ones in the tank, though sometimes you have to dig to see them as they spend more time buried.
 
  • #23
The reason I was asking about the 'micropods' was several years ago I received some dews in a trade and they were crawling w/ isopods. I asked him what was going on & he told me that he deliberately kept the isopods in with his plants. He felt that their constant digging & tunneling helped aerate the media.

The size of a 'normal' isopod seems pretty big to be digging around in most of my pots - however, I can possibly envision some smaller, similar creatures helping to create a more hospitable media environment - hence the possible interest in the micropods.....

Hmmm - could be an interesting experiment.....
 
  • #24
Thats what I have been saying!!!! Want some orange ones?
 
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  • #25
isopods will eat living plant tissue if they find nothing else to their liking.....aint their prefered food source but in my experience, alot of 'pods in a small space with limited food means they start chowing on new growth, especially roots....
 
  • #26
In my experience, as long as there is food available they do not touch live plants... and P. scaber is canabolistic when population levels get too high.... In fact I watched an adult chase, catch, and eat a juvinile today!
 
  • #27
Sorry if I get a little off topic and also excuse me for me ignorance. But are these the "good guys" for carnivorous plants? (I dont know much about this insect) I always see them in my backyard and always kill them because I think they are bad for plants or could hard my plants like aphids. Can someone clarify for me please?
 
  • #28
AFAIK the pillbugs/sowbugs are fine composters. If they tend to scurry very fast over rocks and soil you are probably seeing these: Armadillium vulgare

But if they look like a very small white pillbug covered in white fuzz and are on your plants and don't move much that's mealy bugs and those are some bad news. You can try to treat for them but I've never been successful at doing anything to them except in driving the mealies underground, where they become root mealies and therefore pretty much impossible to treat. Here's a look at: Mealies

Pillbugs eat soil fungus, molds, dead leaves fallen to the ground, "tank waste". Some people online said they grow YARD grass in their isopod tubs since they are said to "like eating roots" but they have shown in their videos they actually prefer small compost piles placed around the container: dead leaves, fish flakes, old food, etc. and appear to leave the grass alone letting it grow. In Tarantula and reptile tanks they eat cricket legs, leftover food boluses, dead/hidden crickets that the critters don't get.
 
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