Ant Woodlouse Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii
(c) Pierre Chevillard, some rights reserved (CC BY)
OrderIsopods (Isopoda)
FamilyPlatyarthrid Woodlice (Platyarthridae)
GenusPlatyarthrus (Platyarthrus)
This is perhaps the strangest woodlouse on record: it lives exclusively in ant colonies, munching on ant droppings and fungal mildew. At just 4mm long and ghostly white, it's specially adapted to underground life with a distinctive oval body and tiny antennae. Its entire geographic range follows its ant hosts โ Lasius and Myrmica species โ making it a perfect example of extreme coevolution. Found from the Mediterranean to the British Isles and beyond, its fate is forever tied to its ant companions.
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