Oniscus asellus "Mardi Gras Dalmatian"

Hisserdude

Hisserdude

Megaloblatta
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So some of you may know that my population of Cylisticus convexus "Pied" died out unfortunately, due to under-watering. However, a new morph has shown up in one of my other species's enclosure, and it is equally exciting to me!

Presenting, Oniscus asellus "Dalmatian":

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I have found three individuals in my colony so far, hoping I can isolate this morph, never heard of this species having this color variation before! I have been really lucky with the variation of color morphs in my isopod colonies, such a cool group of invertebrates! :)

 
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I found a fourth one in my normal O.asellus colony and put it in with the other Dalmatians, which have already reproduced, fingers crossed some of the offspring carry the Dalmatian trait! :D

Here are a couple pictures of them I took the other day:

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All About Insects said:
Awesome looking O.asellus! It looks like it's fluorescing in the second pic! :lol:
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Thanks! :) Yeah, the flash from my camera kinda distorts the light in some images, especially on pale coloured inverts.  :rolleyes:

Cariblatta lutea said:
Wow, it's really pretty! Hope these breed true! 
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Yeah, they are really nice looking, (though not as pretty as those Armadillidium sp. "Montenegro" you just got IMO  ;) ), hopefully I'll know if the babies are also Dalmatians or not soon once they get a little older.

 
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Very nice looking critters. Dalmatian might not be the best name since they have yellow spots too.

I picked up some pied convexus and they've had hundreds of babies and every single one looks normal.

 
MrCrackerpants said:
So nice! Good luck! :)
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Thanks! :)

Allpet Roaches said:
Very nice looking critters. Dalmatian might not be the best name since they have yellow spots too.

I picked up some pied convexus and they've had hundreds of babies and every single one looks normal.
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That's true, what name would you suggest instead of Dalmatian? 

That's exactly what happened with my pied C.convexus, they made tons of babies and every single one was normal coloured, it was very frustrating, though not as frustrating as forgetting to water them and accidentally wiping out the whole colony.  <_<  Where'd you get them?

 
Hisserdude said:
That's exactly what happened with my pied C.convexus, they made tons of babies and every single one was normal coloured, it was very frustrating, though not as frustrating as forgetting to water them and accidentally wiping out the whole colony.  <_<  Where'd you get them?
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Seems like a stretch, but could there be something environment or diet related that causes the coloration?

 
pannaking22 said:
Seems like a stretch, but could there be something environment or diet related that causes the coloration?
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That's what I was thinking, but really nothing changed in their care the whole time I was keeping them except for when I moved them from the normal colony, they got the same types of leaves as the other C.convexus and were kept pretty much the same. I don't see how environment or diet changes could change their color in such a way, but then again I don't see why their offspring wouldn't have the pied gene like their parents.

The same thing is happening with some Porcellio scaber I have with white coloration, I isolated them over a year ago I believe and all their offspring look normal, I don't know why.  :wacko:

 
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Hisserdude said:
That's what I was thinking, but really nothing changed in their care the whole time I was keeping them except for when I moved them from the normal colony, they got the same types of leaves as the other C.convexus and were kept pretty much the same. I don't see how environment or diet changes could change their color in such a way, but then again I don't see why their offspring wouldn't have the pied gene like their parents.

The same thing is happening with some Porcellio scaber I have with white coloration, I isolated them over a year ago I believe and all their offspring look normal, I don't know why.  :wacko:
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Randomjoe said:
Maybe its like the blue merle color for dogs where you have to breed it with a normal color that has the gene for it to get babies with it?
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Hmmm, I'm betting Randomjoe might be right on this one. You may just be stuck with a good number of mixed isopods then and have to enjoy a multicolored colony. Or there's something else we might not be thinking of when it comes to isolating the morph :)

 
pannaking22 said:
Hmmm, I'm betting Randomjoe might be right on this one. You may just be stuck with a good number of mixed isopods then and have to enjoy a multicolored colony. Or there's something else we might not be thinking of when it comes to isolating the morph :)
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Well that would kinda be disappointing, because then you may have to cull out some of the normal looking ones from time to time to make sure there is a good balance of normal VS pied, and vice versa. My C.cylisticus colony was pretty consistently putting out pied specimens for over a year before I decided to isolate them all though, so you guys could very well be right.

 
Hisserdude said:
Well that would kinda be disappointing, because then you may have to cull out some of the normal looking ones from time to time to make sure there is a good balance of normal VS pied, and vice versa. My C.cylisticus colony was pretty consistently putting out pied specimens for over a year before I decided to isolate them all though, so you guys could very well be right.
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It'd definitely be a bummer, but would make for a very showy colony at least! 

 
Perhaps "flecked" or "calico" for the name? 

Hope they're willing to breed at least mostly true, they're very neat. Looks like they've been sprinkled with gold.

 
Betta132 said:
Perhaps "flecked" or "calico" for the name? 

Hope they're willing to breed at least mostly true, they're very neat. Looks like they've been sprinkled with gold.
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Oops, didn't see this comment until just now!

Flecked is a good one, Calico has been used for a strain of Porcellio scaber that has a orange and brown coloration, so I don't think I'll be using that term to describe these. 

Some of their older offspring are gaining some color and it seems the trait has been passed down to them!! :D Can't wait until they get bigger and I can actually photograph them!

 
Well the offspring have been getting bigger, and I was able to get some pictures of them yesterday, here they are: 

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I'm so glad the trait has been passed on to the next generation, hopefully I'll be able to keep this culture going and spread them around in the hobby! :)

 
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