|
I looked into the laws in my area (GA, USA) about keeping and distributing isopods. The USDA does regulate the keeping, breeding, and distribution of invertebrates and arthropods. The site states that a PPQ 526 (Organism & Soil) permit is required for distributing local isopods outside your own state. However, when I followed the link, the site prompted me to select from a list of options, but none of them fit. I instead went directly to the PPQ 526 application site, but a different list of prompts popped up, none of which fit what I'm doing either. On the main page of the section specifically marked "Invertebrate Pets," there is a blurb for "Isopod Enthusiasts." It is a rather vague statement and prompts you to email "Carlos Blanco, Senior Entomologist" to get more information. Sadly, when I attempted to send an email to him, there was a pop up stating that the email address did not exist.  I researched the laws around events such as Repticon as well. The only thing Repticon requires in order for keepers to distribute local invertebrates is the Georgia Pet Dealing license, as none of the other veterinary or importation laws apply. However, upon further investigation, it seems that Georgia does not issue Pet Dealing licenses to isopod keepers, as isopods are not recognized as pets by the state.
So, I've hit a dead end, and I'm inclined to think the state government of Georgia simply does not care about local isopods, as they are not considered pests of any kind, or harmful to people, plants, or animals. Best of luck to any fellow Georgia isopod keepers, and please let me know if others have found more information. I will try to update this if / when I learn more or anything changes.
0 Comments
I realized at some point that it would be irresponsible of me to claim that certain morphs show up at certain rates in my yard. I was basing my numbers on the amount I'd found (only in my yard, where this whole experiment is taking place) but realized that I can really only comment on the frequency of *finding* certain morphs. My ability to find and collect them is affected by a few things. For one, their camouflage is indeed effective against the mulch, so there are certainly many many more morphs and specimens in the area that I simply haven't found. For another, I am due for a new glasses prescription. So we'll have to see how this plays out. Updates to come when my glasses arrive, I guess.  A. Vulgare find of the day I thought the high yellow / Neons would be the least likely to occur because it required a base yellow AND a high expression of yellow / white patterning, but I've found many. That's likely because they stand out the most against the mulch and soil. The Clay / Red Line morph is the one I've found the least frequently, but that's likely because of how well they blend into the clay soil, per their name.
My oldest captive bred babies are just big enough to begin showing patterns, so hopefully the upcoming generation will give me an idea of the probability. I found an isopod with a completely new pattern today. It's definitely an a. vulgare, but I've never seen anything like it. I'm keeping it with a few others for closer observation. I don't have much to say other than that I'm really excited and honored to get to observe and host this creature. I hope more time and research will help me find out if this is a completely novel individual, an actual morph or family trait, or something else.  My yard has turned up even more species that I'm attempting to identify. The isopod shown here is the only one of its kind that I've found so far. I'm torn between IDing it as Porcellio Scaber or Porcellio Spinicornis. Spinicornis has more of the brown mottling seen here, but almost always has some semblance of a linear pattern down the back. The Scabers are typically grey, but the Lava morph (AKA Red Calico morph) shown below has a closer pattern to the one I found, but the coloration is more orangey-brown than the bright flame red of the Lavas. So I'm not sure yet. I decided to try collecting from a friend's yard, an area 6 minutes away from my house. I was surprised to see very few isopods, but many more snails. I think the garden snails here are the gray footed lancetooths. My friend's yard has a noticeably rockier soil and lack of mulch, which I'm sure is contributing. The Georgia clay here is extremely dense, and there was no grass. My friend rents their property and is not in charge of lawn maintenance, so we don't know if any pesticides or chemical treatments have been used on the land. Our yard hasn't used any pesticides, plant / weed poisons, or lawn treatments since we moved in (Feb 2021). Our front lawn is wildflowers and local plants, the only lawn on the block that isn't plain grass. I'm grateful we don't have to deal with any HOA complaining about my yard, but I'm really passionate about keeping the local wildlife healthy. Diversification of plants leads to diversification of arthropods, insects, birds, and so on. Some construction happening at the end of our block has pushed out that pocket of wildlife, and I want my land to be a safe haven / thriving micro-ecosystem for them. A microcosm of native Georgia.
 I posted an example of my pastel morph alongside the normal wild type on the isopod subreddit and got an interesting response. @Ant-Motor on Reddit commented "I've had those show up too, but usually they don’t end up doing well in the long run, can you kinda see where yours are starting to flatten out? Mine kept on getting worse and worse with each generation."
I noticed another adult pastel with ragged edges along the base of the tergites, which confirms that it gets more extreme with age. I need more data to prove it, but I'm wondering if since isopod molts are translucent, maybe the pastel morph is actually a morph that causes overgrowth of the tergite plates. If overgrowth is causing the plates to overhang, it could be what's leaving the edges translucent and ragged, creating that pastel highlight against the typical dark coloration. I don't know if the overgrown plates cause them any discomfort, but I'm going to avoid breeding the pastel morph if I can help it until I have more information about what causes it and what the effects on the animals are.  I explored another area of the yard today and found a really high concentration of the Neons, the high yellows with white or yellow patterns. They may not be as rare as I thought they were. Since isopods don't migrate, it seems like certain morphs pop up in family lines which stay in one place and breed themselves out without much interference, to the point where I am beginning to map the yard by which morph appears most often in what part of the yard. Whatever interbreeding of local traits I ever could've wanted to do was clearly already done by nature over the many generations they've lived on this patch of land, long before anyone started paying attention. In that way, I'm really doing more of a reverse logic puzzle to work out how some of these crazy color / pattern combos came to be.
And in the same way that when you learn a new word, you start hearing it everywhere, I am now finding a LOT of peach a. nasatum. Now that I know what I'm looking for, there are quite a few, especially in the middle part of the yard between the water oak and sweetgum trees, where I just found all the neons. If there's any interest, I might consider raising those as well. But my plate is plenty full with just a. vulgare!  Armadillidium Nasatum Peach morph I thought it would be a bad day for collecting isopods, but it turns out the humid, overcast weather was perfect for them. I scouted my usual places, but decided to explore more of the yard. There is no shortage of a. vulgare, they're everywhere! At first, it almost overwhelmed me, like I was responsible for something extremely precious and unique. But the feeling was quickly replaced with joy. Leaving my career was really difficult, but having this little patch of earth to befriend and study has fulfilled me in a way I didn't expect. Every square foot around me was teeming with life, each creature completely unique and beautiful... I feel honored to be able to add to the research for these incredible animals. I found my first Peach A. Nasatum today too!
I'm finding a lot of healthy adults, but very few are bright yellow, like my Neons. I'm not sure if the bright ones are more likely to stand out and get eaten, and that's why there are fewer adults, or if there is something inherent to the genetic change that alters lifespan, quality of life, or behavior. Raising the generation of juveniles will hopefully prove some of that out. I am still in my first generation of isopods as a keeper and captive breeder, so my data continues to grow as I collect and keep the local armadilladium vulgare. My goal is to isolate and breed the unique local morphs I have discovered, which are as follows:
|
