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Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
Photo#356061
Copyright © 2009
R. Berg
Potato eater -
Porcellio scaber
Alameda County, California, USA
December 2, 2009
Size: ~1/2 in., 13 mm
I went out at night and found out what's been eating the potato leaves. This was among the largest of several specimens.
Found on a potato leaf.
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Contributed by
R. Berg
on 2 December, 2009 - 10:55pm
Last updated 7 December, 2009 - 8:06pm
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R. Berg
, 7 December, 2009 - 8:06pm
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Hi, this is a Porcellio scabe
Hi, this is a Porcellio scaber, indeed. I haven't seen it on live plant before, interesting.
Bye,
F.
…
Ferenc Vilisics
, 7 December, 2009 - 3:44pm
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Live plant?
I didn't know that wodlice ate live plants. I thought that they stayed mostly underground or under bark. It seems like some do eat living plant matter occasionally.
…
Beatriz Moisset
, 3 December, 2009 - 2:24pm
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Yep.
The Woodlice guide page says they sometimes eat live plants. Whatever's eating these leaves does it at night. Other leaf eaters may also work on the potato plants. I didn't catch these creatures in the act of taking a bite, but clearly they don't like light. Most of them evaded my strong flashlight.
…
R. Berg
, 3 December, 2009 - 4:37pm
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Red light
Maybe they can't see red light. Cover your flashlight with a piece of red cellophane. At least that is what we did when we were tracking egg-laying turtles in Costa Rica.
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Beatriz Moisset
, 3 December, 2009 - 7:25pm
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Complications
It's a lantern-type flashlight, and it provided some of the illumination for photos--the rest was the flash. I may be able to enclose it in something red while skulking around looking for bugs, but the photos need white light.
…
R. Berg
, 3 December, 2009 - 7:36pm
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Rough Sowbug?
Nice photo! Rough Sowbug is the common name for
Porcellio scaber
. Your photo is a dead ringer for the Rough Sowbug in one of my field guides, but I am no expert in this area, that's for sure.
…
Mandy Howe
, 2 December, 2009 - 11:40pm
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