The Life of Animals | Woodlouse | The woodlouse has a shell-like exoskeleton, the which it must progressively shed as it grows. Metabolic rate is temperature-dependent in woodlice. Woodlice need moisture Because They rapidly lose water by excretion and through Their cuticle, and so are usually found in damp, dark places, Such as under rocks and logs, although one species, Hemilepistus reaumuri, inhabits "the driest habitat conquered by any species of crustacean ".
Woodlice then recycle the Nutrients back into the soil. Such as artificial environments in greenhouses where it can be very moist, woodlice may Become abundant and damage young plants. Few woodlice have returned to water. Other examples include some Haloniscus species from Australia (family Scyphacidae), and in the northern hemisphere Several species of Trichoniscidae and Thailandoniscus annae (family Styloniscidae). Species for the which aquatic life is assumed include Typhlotricholigoides aquaticus (Mexico) and Cantabroniscus primitivus (Spain).
Woodlice are Eaten by a wide range of insectivores, but the only animals known to prey exclusively on woodlice are spiders of the genus Dysdera, Such as the woodlouse spider Dysdera crocataThere are over 40 native or naturalised species of woodlouse in the British Isles, ranging in color and in size (3-30 millimeters or 0.1-1.2 inches) of the which only five are common: Oniscus asellus (the common shiny woodlouse), Porcellio scaber (the common rough woodlouse), Philoscia muscorum (the common striped woodlouse), Trichoniscus pusillus (the common pygmy woodlouse) and Armadillidium vulgare (the common pill bug).
