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Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
Porcellio scaber
The Rough Woodlouse is a resilient terrestrial isopod found worldwide. Excellent as a cleanup crew in bioactive enclosures, this small crustacean thrives in damp environments with abundant leaf litter.
Class:Malacostraca
Order:Isopoda
Family:Porcellionidae
Genus:Porcellio
Species:Porcellio scaber
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
60 - 80 %
Day temperature
20 - 24 °C
Night temperature
18 - 20 °C
UVB
None
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Native to Europe, but widely introduced and now cosmopolitan. They inhabit temperate forests, damp gardens, and urban settings, sheltering under logs, rocks, and leaf litter.
Taxonomy and Genetics: Belonging to the family Porcellionidae (terrestrial isopods). Unlike Armadillidium species, they cannot roll into a tight ball, relying on speed to escape.
Behavior and Habits: Strictly nocturnal and lucifugous (light-avoiding). They are highly gregarious, clustering in damp crevices. They act as essential decomposers, processing reptile feces, shed skins, and leaf litter into rich soil.
Morphology: Reaches 15–18 mm in size. Females are slightly wider and develop a ventral water-filled pouch (marsupium) to incubate eggs and hatchlings (mancae).
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: Can be kept in ventilated culture bins (minimum 5 liters) or added directly to bioactive terrariums. Use a deep substrate (5–10 cm) of organic soil heavily mixed with decaying leaf litter (oak, beech) and crumbled rotting wood. Provide cork bark flats.
Lighting and Heating: Avoid bright lights. Keep at room temperature; they thrive between 20 and 25°C. No direct heating is required. Keep the enclosure in a shaded area.
Humidity and Hydration: They require high humidity to breathe through their modified gills. Establish a moisture gradient: keep one side of the enclosure damp by watering it regularly, leaving the opposite side dry.
Feeding and Supplementation: Generalist detritivores. Their diet is based on decaying leaves and wood. Supplement twice a week with protein sources (fish flakes, dried shrimp) and fresh vegetables. A continuous source of calcium (cuttlebone) is mandatory for exoskeleton development.
Compatibility: Safe to use as a clean-up crew in most reptile and amphibian terrariums. Avoid housing with extremely small amphibians or delicate eggs, as hungry isopods may nibble on them.
Health and Common Diseases: Quick death will occur if the substrate dries out completely. Ensure a constant supply of leaf litter and calcium to prevent cannibalism.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Native to Europe, but widely introduced and now cosmopolitan. They inhabit temperate forests, damp gardens, and urban settings, sheltering under logs, rocks, and leaf litter.
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivarsCentral America and CaribbeanEurope, Mediterranean, and West AsiaCosmopolitan or introduced
Terrestrial invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 1.7 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Venom level
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 1.7 cm. The British Myriapod and Isopod Group — Porcellio scaber source reports a maximum adult measurement of 1.7 cm for this species, recorded as body length. The taxonomic record consulted is Porcellio scaber. These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
Related species
Recommendations grouped by close relatives, companion choices, and similar care.
