Scientific name

Androniscus dentiger

Androniscus dentiger is a small woodlouse, generally salmon-pink to orange, with a back covered in tubercles. Its colour catches the eye, but eye characteristics and surface relief must also be examined. [1]

Origin

BMIG reports it widely in the lowlands of Great Britain and Ireland. SEWBReC reports its presence in Wales; these regional sources do not delimit its entire worldwide range. [1][2]

  • Pink to orange
  • Small size
  • Humid shelters

Natural history profile; a complete captive protocol is not established by the sources consulted.

At a glance

Generally salmon-pink to orange, Androniscus dentiger bears dorsal tubercles. Colour must be supplemented by examining the eyes and surface relief. [1]

ADULT SIZEApproximately 5 mm
SEWBReC natural history reference point. [2]
LIFESPANNot established
No supported individual lifespan in the selected sources.
LIFESTYLEBeneath ground-level shelters
Stones and moist debris, coastal or human-modified environments. [1]

Adult size

Approximately 5 mm in SEWBReC’s natural history presentation; do not confuse this reference point with a minimum mesh size that retains juveniles. [2]

Lifespan

Captive lifespan not specified by the sources retained.

Lifestyle

Found particularly beneath stones and in moist places among debris. BMIG describes it in coastal environments and sites associated with human activities. [1]

Housing

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Stones and wood — Moist natural shelters; no complete captive setup validated. [2]

The sources document microhabitats, without a complete captive protocol. An enclosure and its lid cannot be declared suitable on adult size alone.

Care parameters

CAPTIVE CLIMATE

Not established — No validated husbandry range in the selected sources.

Humidity

Damp natural environment — Description of shelters observed; no captive humidity range established. [1][2]

Observed habitat

Moist shelters beneath stones and wood. [2] Record the shelter type and observation conditions without converting this record into a captive standard.

Temperature and humidity

No validated keeping values retained. No range borrowed from another woodlouse species is used to fill these fields.

Colour

Variable; pink or orange common in the living animal. [1] Coloration does not replace other identifying characteristics.

Feeding

DIET AND CALCIUM

The sources describe the species and its habitat without setting a captive ration. No calcium or protein dosage is retained. [1][2]

Scope of this profile

Natural history profile; a complete captive protocol is not established by the sources consulted.

Observe more than colour

Each eye has one black ommatidium, and the body’s tubercles are visible under magnification. Juveniles can be confused with other small woodlice. [1] SEWBReC also mentions a yellow midline, useful to observe without treating it as a universally sufficient characteristic. [2]

Photographing a live individual

BMIG states that pigments disappear rapidly in alcohol. [1] A photograph taken before any preservation and accompanied by a scale therefore retains different information from a preserved specimen. Image quality and the context of photography must remain associated with the identification.

An inconspicuous animal in an ordinary environment

Gardens, farmyards and disturbed ground are among the sites reported by BMIG. [1] SEWBReC emphasises that small size contributes to under-recording, even where the animal is present. [2] The number of records in a database therefore does not directly correspond to the number of individuals in the wild.

Feeding and maintenance

The two presentations consulted describe the animal and its habitat without establishing a captive ration. No supplement, calcium or protein dosage is therefore set here. Before using the species as a terrarium clean-up organism, its feeding and compatibility with other occupants still need to be documented.

Reproduction and young

The presence of small individuals alone does not give a precise age or date of birth. The references retained provide no gestation period, age at maturity or normal brood size usable as a breeding timetable. These fields remain explicitly open.

Scope of this profile

This overview helps identify a woodlouse and understand where it is encountered. It does not automatically classify the species as an easy culture. A sourced observation, a keeper’s protocol and a controlled study provide different evidence; this distinction must be retained before proposing domestic settings.

Checklist

  • Photograph colour and surface relief in the living animal.
  • Examine the eyes under suitable magnification.
  • Do not state an undocumented breeding timetable.

Observations to record

  • Identification
  • Dated photographs
  • Shelters and observations

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Sources

Document-based overview; not a substitute for veterinary advice.

  1. British Myriapod and Isopod Group — Androniscus dentiger
    Source accessed
  2. SEWBReC — Species of the Month, May 2020: Rosy Woodlouse
    Source accessed