Collecting Wild Isopods - share your methods

[cgeorgie]

For those of you who collect wild isopods, I'm interested to know the details of how, when, where you collect most successfully:

-location (state, country)
-time of day / weather that seems to be most favorable for collecting
-best hiding spots to find isopods
- any containers or contraptions you use to help collect or "corral" the isopods

Long Island, NY, US
I check occasionally in the morning and evening in the summer, they seem to be scarce (probably buried) mid-day due to the heat.
The usual natural hiding spots: dead wood, under wood chips, under slate stepping stones, flower pots. My favorite way to collect is to put out wet cardboard in a shady part of the yard. They will congregate there in large numbers. If check too often though, they seem to get suspicious and do not return as frequently.
I carry a plastic spoon and a plastic cup with a damp paper towel inside. I don't like grabbing them because I'm afraid I'll harm them. I also always seem to uncover a huge centipede under whatever I lift so I don't want to get all in there with my hands. I prefer coaching the isopods onto a leaf or the spoon if they cooperate. I usually tap the pill bugs so that they roll up into a ball and can be easily scooped up.
It isn't always easy to catch them and depending on the species, they can scatter quite quickly. I'm going to try using clear plastic party cups to drop over them. Sometimes there are cool ones and they are all running in different directions! They don't know the joys of cultured life and delicious snacks LOL.

I currently have the following local species successfully breeding:
Oniscus assellus
Porcellio scaber (Common Wild Morphs: gray, red calico, sand dune)
Armadillidium vulgare (Common Wild Morphs: common black/gray, yellow speckled, brownies and blondies)
Philoscia muscorum

Thanks!

 

[SamanthaMarikian]

Im in southern california with a 4x8 tortoise pen which isopods, earwigs, lizards, snails n slugs LOVE. I have a layer of hay down where theres no grass n im growing new seed and at night and after i water the grass and hay the isopods come up n theres a lotttt. Theres the typical A.vulgare but also a few that i need to ID. Ive found a lottt of Porcellio and some unidentified grubs under hay bales too. Since isopods seem to like hay, ive started even using it in my colonies and the dwarf whites especially love it.

 

[SamanthaMarikian]

Also a favorite food of isopods, if you didnt already know, seems to be cucumber. Whatever food my tortoise doesnt eat becomes food for the lil crawly dudes outside. Ive seen isopods n snails and slugs going for leftover mazuri, watermelon, and cucumber and im gonna try leaving more out to attract more isopods and seeing what cool stuff i can find

 

[mantisfan101]

If you live in areas with forests it’s really simple- find a big rotting log that fell a while ago and turn it over.

 

[richard22]

You could set flat stones over leaf litter and check every so often and manually collect them. You could also always go out into a forest and check under logs. That’s how I started my big isopod colony, along with using my sieve stack and picking out every young isopod from a bunch of leaf litter in the sieve stack (sieve stacks could be 100$-200$, so they’re not cheap). For automatic traps, you could make a pitfall trap with only moistened leaf litter and the trap shallow enough for crickets to escape. If no produce is added flies and ants shouldn’t invade. Beetles and gastropods might still fall in but you can pick those out.

 

[AmazingNature]

I know this thread is old but
Wow I was just going to ask all the exact same questions-and have collected exact same wild pods (nw ohio) also rathki they love moist like river floodplain wood thats where they are always and firefly larva

I also see red centipedes but usually very small ones if with pods
nothing else is with them if their large(no pods/bugs)

I just yesterday...literally had the idea to use a plastic spoon to pick up pods
while eating one of those tuna fish with the crackers and little spoons-
I saved 2 spoons from 2 packs they are little versions of regular plastic spoon
(perfect for in a little tuppaware or pocket when hunting id think)
not the white flat kind in some tuna/cracker packs
this was star kiss brand from a dollar I hit for snacks before heading out to hunt arrowheads and pods

I've also taken different bristle stiffness of small paint/art brushes-to coax them out of tight spots in logs/cracks etc by touching there backend

and have tried leaf stems/very thin twigs/plant stems-none are great though unless they go on onto it etc

I have contemplated but not yet tried
cutting some bigger potatoes in half
then using half potatoes scooped out a bit and face down to lure them
I saw that gardeners do that to trap and get rid of them!

I'm trying to tell which is which of 2 types I have are rathki or scaber-
I've read there is a difference of 3 versus 5 gills between the 2 types but I don't have a good way to magnify just now
the cardboard is a good idea Id forgotten that and maybe newspaper
oh I also have nasatum-they will overrun and out compete vulgare be careful they hard to tell apart when collecting juveniles/ babies in spring

just found this good tip
Empty drink cups, the kind with domed lids, are my favorite short-term collection cups. The round lid keeps springtails and isopods from climbing out or escaping if your cup tips. A soft paintbrush is also helpful to have.

 

[Isopods others]

England- during spring and summer ( invertebrates are less active and common in autumn and winter) search under rotten logs and under bark, grab the largest or flashiest specimens and try and corall any others into your jar

 

[AmazingNature]

This... grab the largest or flashiest specimens

 

[Isopods others]

All these complicated methods, Isopods are everywhere and apparently delicious