Common striped woodlouse
The common striped woodlouse is a shiny, speckled grey-brown woodlouse with a very dark head. It stands up higher on its legs than other woodlice. That helps it run faster than most of them.
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Fun facts
Its other name is the fast woodlouse, because it is quicker than other common woodlice.
Most are brown or grey, but some are yellow, red or orange.
A woodlouse is not an insect. It is a crustacean, a land cousin of crabs and shrimps, with 14 legs.
People carried it from Europe to North America, where it now lives in several states.
Most asked questions about Common striped woodlouse
?Is the striped woodlouse an insect?
No. It is a crustacean, related to crabs and shrimps, and it has 14 legs.
?How big is the common striped woodlouse?
It grows up to about 11 mm long, about as long as your fingernail.
?Is the common striped woodlouse harmful?
No. It is harmless and helps break down dead leaves.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Philoscia muscorum
- Group
- Woodlice
- Family
- Philosciidae
- Classification
- Malacostraca > Isopoda > Philosciidae
- Lives on
- Europe, North America
- Also known as
- Fast woodlouse
Where the facts come from
- Philoscia muscorum (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by AJC1 from UK. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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