Woodlice by Daisy Meadows
February is a dormant month for the majority of wildlife in the garden. They all seem to disappear from view, apart from the birds who rely on us to supplement their feed, so perhaps we should look at what is lurking nearer to the soil.
All children love overturning stones or containers to discover woodlice, which when picked up obligingly roll into a ball, play dead, or run away depending on their species. They have many local names but are commonly known as slaters and pillbugs, these being the ones that roll up.
There are 35 species of woodlice native to Britain and remarkably they are not insects but crustaceans, with shrimps, crabs and lobsters as their relatives. They have 14 legs and breathe through gills which is why they frequent damp dark places during the day and come out to feed at night.
Their outer shell is called an exoskeleton which they moult as they grow bigger. They do this in two stages, shedding the back half first, then the front half a day or so later. They navigate by using the two antennae at the front and the two small “tubes” called uropods sticking out of the back of their bodies. Some species also use these to produce chemicals to discourage predators. Woodlice get rid of their waste by producing ammonia which passes through their shells as a gas. Children might like to test this by keeping woodlice in a jar for a short time and then sniffing the air inside.
Woodlice produce eggs in spring and these are retained inside the female’s body until they hatch. The newly hatched woodlice known as mancas, are kept in a brood pouch on the underside of the female for a few days before they disperse. They are similar in appearance to the adults but are a paler colour, and shed their outer shells as they become bigger. They become adults by late summer and overwinter, before reproducing in their second year. A common woodlouse can live for three to four years. Apart from man, its main predators are centipedes, toads, shrews and spiders.
Woodlice are a gardener’s friend as they are great recyclers and play a vital role as decomposers, especially in the compost heap. They feed on decaying wood, leaf litter, fungi, fallen fruit and decaying vegetable matter. Woodlice occasionally come into houses from gardens, but they’re unable to survive for long indoors unless they find a damp place to shelter.
To attract woodlice to your garden, keep areas where they can hide during the day and provide a compost heap, wood piles and fallen vegetation. You will have an army of armadillos, pillbugs, slaters, cheesy-bugs, chiggy-pigs or any other local name they are called, working for you.
