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Dwarf Purple Isopod (Trichorhina sp.)
Trichorhina sp.
The Trichorhina sp. Purple, or 'Dwarf Purple Isopod'. Even more microscopic (0.06-0.08 inches) and stealthy than its white cousin, it is a formidable underground detritivore. Recognizable by the slight purplish/pinkish pigment that makes it opaque in the soil, this asphyxiating crustacean tolerates extreme rotting tropical environments. Like the white variant, it forms titanic parthenogenetic colonies, but tends to hide even more radically in the asphyctic areas of the mud, cleaning humid terrariums from lethal fungi and microscopic debris invisible to the naked eye.
Class:Malacostraca
Order:Isopoda
Family:Platyarthridae
Genus:Trichorhina
Species:Trichorhina sp.*
* Purple
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
65 - 95 %
Ambient temperature
26 °C
Day temperature
22 - 26 °C
Night temperature
18 - 20 °C
Substrate depth
>= 5 cm
UVB
None
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Commercial pantropical diffusion, probable origin in the hot fetid humid faults of Central America (Costa Rica), rooted in global biotope terrariums.
Taxonomy and Genetics: Family Platyarthridae. (The Purple Dust Demon). It is an unclassified species, close cousin to the Tomentosa. The name 'Purple' derives from the purplish-gray or cloudy fuchsia pigments that distinguish it, giving it a camouflage advantage in the dark of the fetid clayey soil that the white variant does not possess.
Behavior and Habits: Blindly ravenous underground mud mites. Shyer than the Dwarf White, if possible. Dwarf Purples are true specters of the subsoil. If you turn over a piece of moss, you will see dark micro-dots scatter in the mud with desperate asphyxiating speed. They flee light and human contact, living their entire life swallowing mold and rotting in the most asphyxiating and lowest area of the bioactive terrarium.
Morphology: Microscopic elongated soft asphyxiating (Under 0.08 inches max / 2 mm). Incredibly slender and lacking leathery armor (does not conglobate into a sphere). The translucent body is tinted a Faded Plum, Powder Purple or dark Pinkish-Gray asphyxiating color. The naked eye struggles to distinguish the frantic legs as it flees under rotten wood.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: Guidance about terrarium setup for Trichorhina sp. must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Lighting and Heating: Guidance about lighting and heating for Trichorhina sp. must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Humidity and Hydration: Guidance about humidity and hydration for Trichorhina sp. must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Feeding and Supplementation: Guidance about feeding and supplementation for Trichorhina sp. must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Compatibility and Coexistence: Guidance about compatibility and coexistence for Trichorhina sp. must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Health and Common Diseases: Guidance about health and common diseases for Trichorhina sp. must rely exclusively on the parameters and sources listed on this record.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Commercial pantropical diffusion, probable origin in the hot fetid humid faults of Central America (Costa Rica), rooted in global biotope terrariums.
Origin
Cosmopolitan or introducedCentral America and CaribbeanSouth and Southeast Asia
Terrestrial invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 0.5 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 0.5 cm. The TC Insects — dwarf Trichorhina/Trichoniscus trade cultures source reports a maximum adult measurement of 0.5 cm for this species, recorded as body length. The source uses the same informal designation Trichorhina sp.; it should not be read as a formally described binomial. 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.
