Cordioniscus stebbingi (Patience, 1907)

Status:

GB IUCN status: Not applicable (non-native)

ID Difficulty

Identification

The pygmy woodlice of family Styloniscidae (and Trichoniscidae) are readily distinguished from other woodlice by the shape of the antennal fagellum which comprises a tapered cone (of indistinct segments) bearing a terminal bristle.

Cordioniscus stebbingi is a very small woodlouse reaching 3 mm in length. In life it is mottled dark reddish-brown and the eye is composed of three ommatidia, thus resembling Trichoniscus pusillus agg., but differs in the body being covered with coarse tubercles. However, there are other similar species, such as Styloniscus mauritiensis and S. spinosus occurring in heated glasshouses.

Identification should be based on a male specimen.

J.P. Richards
J.P. Richards
Keith Lugg

Distribution and Habitat

Cordioniscus stebbingi has been collected from inside several heated glasshouses, including those at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin and Kew Botanic Gardens.

This species originates from eastern Spain, but has been introduced, mainly in glasshouses, all over the world.

BRC code

74

idBmigTaxa

Cru_1209