Marsupium

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

• Peracarida

  Amphipods, Isopods, and Allies

  Peracarida is a superorder of malacostracan crustaceans comprising approximately 12,000 species across 13 orders. The group is defined by the presence of a marsupium (brood pouch) formed by oostegites—flattened plates on the basalmost leg segments of females. Members occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats, ranging from minute interstitial forms to the giant isopod Bathynomus giganteus (76 cm) and giant amphipod Alicella gigantea (34 cm). The earliest known peracaridian, Oxyuropoda ligioides, dates to the Late Devonian (~360 mya).

  crustaceanbroodingmarsupiumdirect-developmentmalacostracaamphipodaisopodacumaceatanaidaceamysidamancaeoostegiteslacinia-mobilisdevonian-fossilbathynomusalicellaterrestrial-crustaceancave-faunainterstitial-faunaphylogenomicsuce