12/4/2022: Porcellio scaber “Excalibur”

I received a box of an incredible rough isopod strain last week, those lovelies being Porcellio scaber “Excalibur”. This phenotype is the work of two diligent keepers, Anthony Green and Mike Thalacker.

Anthony collected the original stock in Wisconsin in 2020, which were all typical midwest scaber. The F1 contained a few skirted individuals, and after Mike was given some stock to work with the trait has held steady into the F5.

These blow my old California derived “Skirt” line out of the water, something I would not have expected a midwest scaber line of this sort to do. I’m excited to see how this can be worked into other projects and if the lack of pigment on the edges can be “stacked” with some classic simple recessives.

-Kyle