Woodlice AIDGAP
Woodlice AIDGAP is an identification guide to the woodlice that breed outdoors in Britain and Ireland.
- Covers all 35 species
- Enables identification of live specimens in the field (where possible)
- Illustrated throughout with line drawings plus 16 colour plates
This groundbreaking identification guide set new standards as an accessible identification key when it was first published in 1991. As well as the keys, the guide includes descriptions of each species, covering distribution and natural history.
Woodlice are among the most familiar of animals. Hand searching among surface material (‘grubbing about’) will turn up most of the larger species. Good places to search include damp leaf litter, rotting wood, loose bark, piles of rocks and tips of rubble and household refuse. By contrast, six species are only found at the coast.
Unfortunately woodlice have a reputation as pests. But the beneficial effects of these crustaceans far outweigh any damage that they do. In glasshouses, woodlice may occasionally nibble seedlings, but they rarely do any significant economic damage. Moreover in compost heaps, and in the leaf litter of deciduous woods, woodlice perform a vital ecological role. They chew dead plants into small fragments, and deposit these as faecal pellets which decompose rapidly. Thus the feeding activities of woodlice speed up the decomposition process and help return essential nutrients to the soil.
The Woodlice guide is part of the FSC’s AIDGAP series (Aids to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants). Our AIDGAP guides are accessible identification keys, suitable for non-specialists from age 16+. As with all guides in the series, the Woodlice AIDGAP underwent extensive testing before publication, by beginners and specialists alike. The author revised the key in the light of the testers’ experience.
