Israel Insect World

Topic: Armadillidium

Arp
Member
Posts: 12

Hi Oz,

The image you have in the category "Isopoda" is not an Armadillidium or family Armadillidiidae for that matter, but the quite closely related family Armadillidae.

Unfortunatelly I have no info on Israeli species (checklist) so I wouldn't want to hazard a guess even at the genus (Cubaris ? Armadillo ? ... ?), but for comparison google Armadillidium vulgare and Armadillo officinalis - the latter being the archtypical and most common and widely distributed member of the family Armadillidae even in your region I'm sure.

So, chances are it's simply just that species, but from the image I'm unable to tell at my current rudimentary level of knowledge about these.

Cheers! Arp

January 11, 2009 at 7:14 PM

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Oz Rittner
Site Owner
Posts: 187

Hi Arp,

Sadly I have very poor ability (or not at all) to Id this specie. I have no check lists of these in my area nor any kind of key or database I can use for Id. However I will try to search for it and check your opinion.

Thanks for noticing!

January 13, 2009 at 12:49 AM

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Arp
Member
Posts: 12

To get anywhere with an ID you would need good shots of the head (preferably a few angles) and the tail end (preferably dead on from behind) - or something like my avatar for that matter ;o) Armadillo officinalis is present in Israel and no doubt the most abundant species of Armadillidae here is a series from Cyprus. I will see what I can dig up for Israel or the region in general and compile a set of links to useful guides etc. My project pages are one big clutter that are hardly of any use as they are (notes/links, images)

Cheers! Arp

January 13, 2009 at 7:40 AM

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Assaf
Member
Posts: 12

Arp,

Here a photo of was thinking is also armadillo officinalis can you approve? Thanks.

January 13, 2009 at 3:14 PM

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Arp
Member
Posts: 12

Howdy, I've done some searching and for all I can assemble from various PDFs I found my hunch of other genera was probably based on badly chosen names historically. The world checklist seems to suggest genus Armadillo only for Israel. If I follow old documents by PRETZMANN and STROUHAL that I could find PDFs of there would only be 3 species (not counting subspecies of A. officinalis), and it isn't one of the other two (albomarginatus or tuberculatus). But running various searches on the World Catalog delivers a few species that I don't have descriptions of: Armadillo albus, carmelensis, sordidus and maybe two or three more if you want keep some room for neighboring areas. For those I would need to get my hands on: SCHMALFUSS, H. (1996b): The terrestrial isopod genus Armadillo in western Asia (Oniscidea: Armadillidae), with descriptions of five new species. â?? Stuttgarter BeitrÃ¤ zur Naturkunde, Serie A, 544: 43 pp. and I havn't been able to find it yet. One other publication that should be worthwhile for Israel is the Israel Journal of Zoology 44(3-4):253-500, which contains the Proceedings of the International Symposium on Oniscidean Isopods 1997 in Haifa. Some of the articles in it seem to give interesting info on the Israeli fauna as well. However, on the website for the Journal I could only find Vol.46 and newer issues. You guys any idea where to get a copy? For the time being it looks very much like both animals in this thread will be Armadillo officinalis - they look just like it, but sadly I can't exlude the other (probably quite rare) species mentioned above as long as I have no idea what sets them apart :o( Btw: The animal in Assaf's picture is male ;o) Will try and find more info ...

Cheers! Arp

January 13, 2009 at 11:21 PM

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