Curious Invertebrates: Woodlice in a Bunch | Close-up cell phone photography

joslud (74)modCCS Quality Hunterin CCS • 3 days ago (edited)

Greetings campers and CCS friends, I'm very happy to see how frequently insect photos are appearing in the community feed. Congratulations, and keep the insects coming!

I want to share with you a curious behavior I found in a group of woodlice, which were not only grouped together, but also stacked on top of each other. Remember, woodlice are not insects, but terrestrial crustaceans or isopods.

Photo N° 1:


This grouping behavior, where they are found on top of each other or forming a "pile," is very common in woodlice. According to National Geographic , woodlice cluster together for two main reasons, both related to their origin as crustaceans.

Photo N° 2: The main reason: Maintaining temperature and retaining moisture


Woodlice are crustaceans that evolved to live on land, but unlike insects, they don't have a shell to prevent water loss. Therefore, they depend heavily on a humid environment. When they group together and climb on top of each other, they reduce the surface area of each individual exposed to dry air. The group, as a whole, creates a more humid microclimate inside, minimizing water loss through evaporation.

Woodlice are crustaceans that evolved to live on land, but unlike insects, they don't have a shell to prevent water loss. Therefore, they depend heavily on a humid environment.
When they group together and climb on top of each other, they reduce the surface area of each individual exposed to dry air. The group, as a whole, creates a more humid microclimate inside, minimizing water loss through evaporation.

Photo N° 3:


Grouping also helps them regulate their temperature. Especially if it's cold; I think that's the reason the temperature has dropped recently here where I live.

Photo N° 4: Copulation (Specific Behavior)?


Although most of the time the pile is due to humidity, you may also find them stacked together, because this is part of copulation behavior, but let's be clear. If you see two of them in the photo, they are not copulating. You can see that they are connecting their heads, not their tails.

Photo N° 5:


So, if you see a large number of pill bugs grouped together in the same place, it's simply a survival strategy to find and maintain humidity and warmth.

Info:

For editing, I used Lightroom.

Item	Description
Equipment:	Umidigi Cell Phone A7S Camera
Mode:	Macro Mode. + zoom. Frame 4:3
Author:	@joslud
Edition:	Lightroom
Location:	Outdoor
Date:	Oct/17/ 25

See you soon

Fuentes / Sources

Las imágenes son de mi propiedad, captadas con un celular UMIDIGI. Cámara A7S.
What are woodlice?
Cochinillas de la humedad (Woodlouse) | Venezuela by @joslud

Original production by @joslud

I'll wait for you in the next publication.

#photography #macrophotography #ccs #art #artonsteemit #steemexclusive

3 days ago in CCS by joslud (74)modCCS Quality Hunter

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