Pill Woodlouse or Pill Bug
e6filmuser
Registered Users Posts: 3,378 Major grins
Armadillidium vulgare is one of those species which can roll up perfectly.
I found this on a log in the pile I have recently been searching for macro subjects. As is typical, I was searching for tiny slime mould and found a huge millipede.
Larger than the largest ordinary woodlice, this has a very arched back and is shiny, with yellow markings. (Some of the small species are also shiny, with yellow makings).
As I found out, it is not too good at holding on to the substrate if not horizontal. I had to pick it up several times to replace it on the log. It walks rather fast, making framing a challenge.
The closing up into a ball (it is one the wood, not emerging from it) is also a feature of the pill millipede but the woodlouse is a crustacean and has gill plates, as can be seen on the first inverted one (jelly-like structures toward the posterior end). The other inverted one gives a better view of the face than when it is upright.
EM-1 (manual mode), Kiron 105mm macro f11, twin TTL RC flash, hand-held with some support from a bean bag.
Harold
I found this on a log in the pile I have recently been searching for macro subjects. As is typical, I was searching for tiny slime mould and found a huge millipede.
Larger than the largest ordinary woodlice, this has a very arched back and is shiny, with yellow markings. (Some of the small species are also shiny, with yellow makings).
As I found out, it is not too good at holding on to the substrate if not horizontal. I had to pick it up several times to replace it on the log. It walks rather fast, making framing a challenge.
The closing up into a ball (it is one the wood, not emerging from it) is also a feature of the pill millipede but the woodlouse is a crustacean and has gill plates, as can be seen on the first inverted one (jelly-like structures toward the posterior end). The other inverted one gives a better view of the face than when it is upright.
EM-1 (manual mode), Kiron 105mm macro f11, twin TTL RC flash, hand-held with some support from a bean bag.
Harold
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Brian v.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/
http://www.lordv.smugmug.com/
Thanks, Brian.
Yes, I get mostly the large, flat greys but also a few of the smaller ones, much like the Pill but brown, with a transverse yellow mark on the rear apex of the head. Unknowingly, I once photographed a white one which I though was an immature of the other but is a separate species. This week, I saw what looked like a lemon-yellow one fall off a piece of wood as I turned it over but could not find it to confirm.
Harold