This desert Isopod was 5mm in length with a powdery, bluish-grey coloration. The pleotelson of this species is hourglass shaped. When disturbed it was able to roll up into a complete ball to defend itself.
This desert Isopod was 5mm in length with a powdery, bluish-grey coloration. The pleotelson of this species is hourglass shaped. When disturbed it was able to roll up into a complete ball to defend itself.
Description: Armadillo officinalis Duméril, 1816, Roda de Barà, Spain, 8/9 May 2013 Broad telson indicates Armadillo. Spain has two species (see www.fauna-iberica.mncn.csic.es/faunaib/arthropoda/crustac..). A. officinalis fits and seems widely recorded. There is much less information on A. hirsutus but it does indeed seem from its original description (Die Thiere Andalusiens, page 421) to have hairs on the head and along the dorsum. Date: 9 May 2013, 11:19. Source: Armadillo officinalis. Author: Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark. Camera location41° 10′ 15.59″ N, 1° 28′ 12.08″ EView all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 41.170998; 1.470022.
Figure 2; Sphaerillo boninensis A right mandible, holotype (male) B left mandible, holotype (male) C outer endite of first maxilla, holotype (male) D inner endite of first maxilla, holotype (male) E second maxilla, holotype (male) F maxilliped, holotype (male). Scale bars: 100 μm (A, B); 50 μm (C–F).