There was absolutely no reason to remove this post about a leucistic Armadillidium. Perhaps it is Porcellio dilatatus but it is definitely leucistic and I am setting about proving this is so!

About six months ago I found a unique batch of Sow bugs (Porcellio dilatatus?) in one portion of our garden here in San Diego, California (transition between "Sunset Garden" zones 23/24. Mostly ends up like zone 23 as we are above the Chollas Creek corridor)

The sow bugs were found in a very shaded, moist area rich with leaf litter and where we have our kitchen scraps composted by worms. In so many words it is a most ideal habitat for sow bugs! It was a rather sudden occurrence when lifting containers looking for bugs and other critters for turtles, newts and lizards that I found one container with hundreds of these leucistic sow bugs underneath! I selected mostly the leucistic ones along with some "normal" coloration adults.

I placed them in a plastic sweater box (holes drilled in for air circulation) with wood mulch/compost, pieces of bark and a shallow watering dish with gravel in it. This habitat is kept indoors in a relatively warm room. The first batch in this sweater box completely died out as I did not understand the absolute necessity for a moist substrate... regardless of the otherwise desert environment that we live in here in San Diego. Simply using a hand sprayer to moisten the coarse substrate especially under the pieces of bark allows the Sow bugs to respirate through their terrestrial adapted gills. The moisture is apparently "wicked" up thus maintaining a constant dew-like layer over the gills where gas exchange (respiration) occurs

I feed them upon fish flakes, a combination of various grain flours and powdered cat food with calcium and vitamins (used for raising cockroaches) and fresh leaves ie tree mallow, Chenepodium, Sweet potato etc. Keeping the environment moist. Regular feeding and regular drinking water changes soon resulted in hundreds of tiny young. Most of them were leucistic with a few normal coloration and what seemed like a few "in between" colorations.

Unfortunately I did not record dates for this project as was begun more out of curiosity- I wanted to see if this coloration was a permanent form of sow bug or was it just that I happened to find a large number of sow bugs having
shed their exoskeletons simultaneously?

It has been several months now. A new generation is already beginning. I have removed almost all the adults as I find them. I am now also removing any of the normal or "in-between" colorations so that all that will be left are the leucistic form. I may have to set up another sweater box selecting only the leucistic progeny as there are so many little sow bugs... even though the leucistic form dominates the sweater box that is a nearly impossible task to segregate them completely!

It looks like a very permanent form! In other words this so far seems a quite genetically stable form... even in the presence of a greater abundance of normal coloration forms. I am looking to see what happens with the next generation.

One other note: Since the "Roach food mix" includes Asthoxanthin & Sprulina while the fish food flakes that I use also has "color enhancers" this is showing up in the Sow bugs. Especially after eating! So they will not be the "pure white" as described in the post with this picture that I am responding to.

I will proceed with my "experiment"... but it is probability enough proof, however unscientifically standardized, will show that indeed there is a REAL leucistic Sow bug!

It was actually just as white many days later. I think they molt one half at a time. Which didn't seem to be the case with the white one. Might be some kind of unique leucistic "pill bug" morph(seen thousands in my lifetime never one like that)..

Thanks, I'm surprized people haven't commented lol..