Different Isopod Species and Iridovirus

Recently I became an avid supported of the use of isopods for T cage maintenance. I've introduced standard, tan, orange and white dwarf isopods in not just my T enclosures, but also those of my geckos and toads. Not only do they do a great job of cleaning things up, they are fun to watch, especially those with brighter coloring.

My success led me to investigate other species of brightly colored isopods. Specifically I had seen posts talking about blue and purple isopods. This led me to discover something called "iridovirus" which causes standard grey isopods to turn blue and the orange species to turn purple.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7203967

http://www.roachforum.com/index.php?showtopic=1455&hl=purple+isopods

According to my referenced sources the orange isopods can contract the virus without developing lethal symptoms which could potentially allow for the development of a purple isopod colony. Unfortunately, it apparently will eventually kill grey isopods which means that blue ones won't last long.

My question is whether anyone has any experience with this virus and the potential for cross specie contamination, aka, will it kill a T? Also, what variety of isopod species have people used (standard, tan, orange, white dwarf) and if there are any other exotic species that people know about and have used (and where to get them). Do different species have different potential issues as they relate to T's? Are there some that should not be used because they are too aggressive?

I look forward to your responses. Some pictures of isopod species and iridovirus infected isopods are provided for your reference. Has anyone seen any of these before? I have others too including green millipede pill bugs? Any ideas about these?

More pics

See above. Some of the blues are from Afghanistan and are apparently a natural phenotype of this species:

http://www.travelthewholeworld.com/afghanistan.html

What other exotic species do people know about or have used before with T's?

those things are beautiful especially the blue and purple

Some of those shots appear to be pill millipedes, which are not isopods.

Endagr8 said:

Some of those shots appear to be pill millipedes, which are not isopods.

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True; I believe it was the green one. Apparently they are very hard to keep in captivity due to specific nutritional requirements related to gut bacteria...

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/spiders-inverts/134211-madagascan-giant-emerald-pill-bugs.html

How about the other ones?

What's the coolest terrestrial isopod anyone has heard about? Where do we get some?

Check out this:

http://www.nationaltrust.org.sh/newsletters/no2/newletter-2-may03-3.html

Spiky Yellow Woodlice!

How cool would it be to get your hands on some of these guys!

Some more pics; I have all sources bookmarked if anyone is interested in particular pictures. I'm obsessed; I love them!

I've hear there is a species about the size of an orange when rolled up!

Very cool stuff Irfin.

Irfin said:

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I like that one a lot. Very pretty metallic red.

Pics 3, 6,8 and 9 are pill millipedes I believe. They are impossible to keep. They only live for a short time and are all wild caught. I have tried to keep some of the larger species from Asia and they last for about 3-6 months. The common theory as to why they don't survive is that they eat a fungus which is entirely unavailable at the moment in the industry. I speculate that the fungus or even a bacterium native to their native region allows the milli to metabolize food. I have found that they all eat and defecate but then they slowly start to get listless and they look ill. I have on occasion dissected a few of them and found that the internal structures are very small compared to the size of their bodies at the time of death. I have not, and will not kill and dissect a live one. That's my two cents on the millies, I don't know about this virus, Ill do some research and see what I can find.


Alex

Iridiovirus tend to be very species-specific (like many viruses normaly are) and will not infect a tarantula. I have have blue isopods live for quite some time (year?) before they died, and the offspring were normal grey colored. No tarantula or roach that shared a home with the blue ones were ever affected.

There are several forms of this virus in common use in the aquarium trade that give crayfish and other shellfish 'metallic' colors.

Matt K said:

Iridiovirus tend to be very species-specific (like many viruses normaly are) and will not infect a tarantula. I have have blue isopods live for quite some time (year?) before they died, and the offspring were normal grey colored. No tarantula or roach that shared a home with the blue ones were ever affected.

There are several forms of this virus in common use in the aquarium trade that give crayfish and other shellfish 'metallic' colors.

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Awesome info Matt K! I'm going to check that out right away.

About the blue isopods, was your whole colony blue? Did it spread easily?

Also, did you collect the blue guys from the wild? Where did you find them if you don't mind my asking?

My hope is that I might be able to infect some orange isopods to potentially produce the elusive purple isopods. Any experience with these guys and the virus?

Also, I looked around and couldn't find anything about the iridovirus and crayfish. Can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks for the help.

If you like isopods, you need to check out my buddies page here:
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/porcellio/
He has been breeding and selling them (and other critters) for years!

As for the crayfish, I have heard that the "electric blue crayfish" is blue because of an iridovirus. Could be wrong info, but it is something to check out. At the very least, it is a beautiful animal. Google it or look them up on Aquabid.

And yes, some of the above pics are pill millipedes or pillapedes. I kept some of the emerald green ones, and all they did was die. However, I have also kept some isopods, and they are real good feeders for assassin bug nymphs.

Here's another site that I found some good info on the subject.

http://pages.pomona.edu/~jcw04747/oniscidea.html

son of a gun!

i smooshed an irido today on accident! i am pretty sure, at least


really want to culture it!

Iridovirus refers to a huge group of viruses. It is not likely anyone can tell you what will happen but it is unlikely that the virus will transmit to your spiders.

I don't have the answer you're looking for, but I know it's true viruses are usually pretty specific. Since isopods are crustaceans and spiders are arachnids they're distantly related (thus reducing chances of transmission).

In any case, those are very beautiful isopods! Thanks for sharing.

Here's a neat one:

From a colony in front of my house. About 15% of the colony has this coloration. The rest are a typical gunmetal blue.