Calcareous-soils

Guides

• Armadillidium vulgare

  common pill-bug, common pill woodlouse, roly-poly, potato bug, doodle bug, carpenter

  Armadillidium vulgare is a terrestrial isopod native to Mediterranean Europe that has become one of the most widespread woodlouse species globally through human-mediated dispersal. It is the most extensively studied terrestrial isopod and serves as a model organism for research on mitochondrial genome evolution, desiccation resistance, and conglobation behavior. The species exhibits remarkable morphological plasticity, including numerous color morphs maintained through selective breeding in the pet trade.

  woodlouseterrestrial-isopodconglobationdetritivoremodel-organisminvasive-speciespet-trademitochondrial-genomedesiccation-resistancecalcium-carbonatemarsupiumdirect-developmentnocturnalaggregationthermotaxisthigmotaxiscalcareous-soilsnitrogen-cyclingclimate-mitigation

• Tetraopes texanus

  Texas Milkweed Beetle

  Tetraopes texanus is a longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae) endemic to North American grasslands, described by George Henry Horn in 1878. The species exhibits a disjunct distribution with two primary population clusters: one in Texas and Oklahoma, and another in the Black Belt Prairie of Mississippi and Alabama. Genetic studies indicate these populations diverged in the mid-Pleistocene and remain incompletely isolated. The species is a milkweed specialist, utilizing Asclepias species as host plants throughout its life cycle. Listed as Near Threatened by IUCN due to habitat loss, limited range, and increasing genetic isolation among fragmented populations.

  CerambycidaeTetraopinimilkweed-beetlegrassland-specialistAsclepiasconservationdisjunct-distributionpopulation-genomicsNear-ThreatenedBlack-Belt-prairiecalcareous-soils