Types of wood lice: Marine, Common Battleship, Centipede, Silverfish, Two-tail, Transparent and others, as well as a description of all individuals living in the apartment or house

Woodlice are not insects, but small crustaceans (beetles or crustaceans). In total, there are more than 3,000 species of wood lice. All of these individuals have gills and scaly carapace. Woodlice do not drown and do not choke in water, do not die in a liquid medium. They live in conditions of maximum humidity. The article tells about the varieties of woodlice that live in nature and apartments.

Brief definition

These are small crustaceans: the average length is 10-13 mm. The body color is gray or dark, the shape is convex, oval. Each segment on the shell has its own pair of legs. In total, wood lice have 7 pairs of legs. On the head of individuals there are 2 pairs of antennae, eyes are located on the sides. Tactile organs are located at the end of the body, visually resemble tails-appendages.

Woodlice are sedentary and slow creatures. In case of danger, individuals curl up into a ball, and a dense shell of chitin serves as an excellent defense against enemies.

In this material you can find out interesting facts about wood lice, about the lifestyle and species of these crustaceans.

How many varieties exist?

The number of all types of such crustaceans in the world is about 3,500. Most of them live in the aquatic environment. No more than 250 species adapted to land conditions. In Russia, no more than 10 species of wood lice are used to weather conditions. This is due to the fact that only some representatives of these crustaceans can tolerate low temperatures and moderate humidity.

Which live in nature?

Individuals are found in all landscape zones around the world.

The battleship is ordinary. Habitat - Europe, America. These individuals are the most common invertebrate creatures in California's coastal meadows.
Sea lice. They live in the waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans at a depth of 180-200 m.
Transparent wood lice. Tropical rainforests, equatorial zones with long rains.

Despite the constant need for moisture, wood lice can be found on the most extreme areas of the earth - these are deserts in Israel and North Africa, hypersaline pools in Australia.

Learn about how wood lice look in the photo and what types of insect exist in nature, find out in this material.

In apartments and houses

In inhabited apartments and houses there are 2 species of woodlice: this is common woodworm or armadillo and rough woodlice (where do woodlice come from, how to get rid of their presence in the apartment, find out here). The first individuals usually choose raw cellars and wet basements for housing. Rough crustaceans can be found in apartments and porches. These are more mobile individuals, they easily overcome floors of apartment buildings.

Read about why there are wood lice in the house and apartment and how to get rid of them, read here, and about wood lice living in the bathroom and toilet, find out in this material.

Varieties: definition and description

The following are the types of crustaceans that live in our country and in the world.

Common battleship

The Latin name is Armadillidium vulgare. This is a typical representative of crustaceans.

The name of the species is explained by the structural features of the body: the chitinous shell is dense, dark, rises above the body.

In their appearance, individuals are similar to two-legged millipedes. The body of these crustaceans is elongated, consists of segments (head, free cervical region, scaly body). The carapace is dark and tall.

Among typical species are also distinguished.

Grungy

The individuals have a soft and flat shell, the color may be typical gray or red, yellow.

Pig (Porcellio scaber)

These are small representatives of the genus who do not know how to twist into a ball in danger. It has a rigid outer shell, which is constantly updated.

Centipede

Another name is flytrap. Included in the order of arthropods, belongs to the family of millipedes. It has a flat segmented body, each segment has a pair of paws. When approaching the tail, the length of the legs increases. In total, individuals have 30 legs.

The last pair of legs is the jaw, they are necessary for catching prey. On the head of individuals there are 2 poisonous claws. Body color - gray-red or gray-brown. Centipedes feed on flies, cockroaches.

Silverfish

The Latin name is Lepisma saccharina. Belongs to the bristle-tailed squad. Silverfish have an elongated body and many legs, they move quickly. The length of the body is 1-2 cm. The color is silver-gray. Diet - small insects and mites, as well as products containing polysaccharides and starch (glue, sugar, wallpaper, photos).

Two-tail

The second name is earwigs. They are part of the squad of mandibular hexapods. The average length is 2-3 cm. Only the abdomen is segmented in the double-tail, there are no eyes, long antennae grow on the head (up to half of the whole body of the individual). On the last segment there are appendages - churches, stings. They can be thin or strong as claws. There is no danger to humans (about whether wood lice are a threat to humans and how they are dangerous to plants, homes and pets, read here). Habitat habitat is a dark, damp area.

Transparent

The body of the individual is not transparent, but silver or white, but in sunlight it seems almost transparent. Individuals acquire this specific color after 3 molting.

Learn about white wood lice in this article.

Marine

Differences from land representatives - the presence of a tail, powerful claws on the legs, large eyes and excellent vision. The size of the body is from 5-10 mm to 15-40 cm. They live in water, but go to land (calcareous cliffs, wet stones). Faster than their overland counterparts. The color of the shell is dirty green, light brown. Diet - dead fish, worms, mollusks and algae.

The largest wood lice in the world is sea lice. This is the giant isopod Bathynomus gigantes. Dimensions of the largest specimen: length - 76 cm, weight - 1.7 kg. This is a deep-sea inhabitant who never went on land. It was caught by a trawler.

So, woodlice are small crustacean creatures that live in humid areas. In total, there are about 3,500 species of these creatures, but no more than 250 species have adapted to life on land. A typical representative is the wood lice, an armadillo. It is found both in nature and in residential premises. But more often, in the apartments and houses, a rough wood louse is settled.