Woodlouse in mid-molt
Armadillidium vulgare
33.135, -117.034
Field Notes
Description:
This Woodlouse is in mid-molt. The white thing in the image is the shed exoskeleton. "The molt takes place in two stages; the back half is lost first, followed two or three days later by the front. This method of molting is different from that of most arthropods, which shed their cuticle in a single process."
Habitat:
Under wood pile in leaf litter in backyard.
Notes:
I've seen a blue one before caused by an iridovirus: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/7718485 and a common colored one: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/162106011 but never one like this!
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