9/28/2021: Isopods in arid lands, Venezillo arizonicus

It’s hard to believe the deserts of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico are home to several endemic species and/or color forms of desert isopod, but where proper conditions exist they can be locally abundant.

I was able to collect several localities of nominate Venezillo arizonicus, all the typical purple-gray that gives them a deceptive resemblance to the common Cubaris murina. While I have worked with this species in the past, success was limited and only productive when they were kept fairly dry and provided with heat. This is fairly congruent with their wild habitat, which seems to be under large rocks and debris in overgrown areas as well as occasionally rodent burrows. I was surprised by the dry conditions some clusters were in, though they are pretty well-adapted to drought as far as isopods go. Their cuticle seems to have a waxy component (similar to Porcellionides) that gives them a faint sheen, and to conserve water rolling up into a sphere is very efficient.

This time around, I will be trying a new intensive set-up in an attempt to get a large colony going. It seems with the manifest destiny of haphazardly named and identified Cubaris/”Ducky” species from southeast Asia, some of these oddball quirky taxa have gotten a shove to the side, especially if their husbandry requires any additional quirks or care. I have found aberrant individuals in past colonies of arizonicus, so perhaps a neat line or two can be derived from these xeric-loving paradoxical crustaceans.

-Kyle