Volume 2, Chapter 10-3: Arthropods: Crustacea
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Glime, J. M. 2017. Arthropods: Crustacea – Isopoda, Mysida, and Decapoda. Chapt. 10-3. In: Glime, J. M. Bryophyte Ecology. 10-3-1 Volume 2. Bryological Interaction. Ebook sponsored by Michigan Technological University and the International Association of Bryologists. Last updated 19 July 2020 and available at <http://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/bryophyte-ecology2/>. CHAPTER 10-3 ARTHROPODS: CRUSTACEA – ISOPODA, MYSIDA, AND DECAPODA TABLE OF CONTENTS CLASS MALACOSTRACA, ORDER ISOPODA ........................................................................................... 10-3-2 External Anatomy ...................................................................................................................................... 10-3-3 Adaptations to Terrestrial Life and to Bryophytes ..................................................................................... 10-3-4 Water Relations ................................................................................................................................... 10-3-4 Waste Elimination ............................................................................................................................... 10-3-5 Osmotic Balance ................................................................................................................................. 10-3-5 Respiration .......................................................................................................................................... 10-3-5 Temperature Tolerance ....................................................................................................................... 10-3-5 Moisture and Temperature Interaction ................................................................................................ 10-3-6 Behavior .............................................................................................................................................. 10-3-6 Congregating Behavior ................................................................................................................ 10-3-6 Sheltering ..................................................................................................................................... 10-3-7 Reproduction ....................................................................................................................................... 10-3-7 Predators ............................................................................................................................................. 10-3-9 Overwintering ..................................................................................................................................... 10-3-9 Bryophytes as Food .................................................................................................................................. 10-3-10 Digestion ........................................................................................................................................... 10-3-10 Terrestrial Consumers ....................................................................................................................... 10-3-11 Defenses and Apparency Theory ............................................................................................... 10-3-18 Aquatic Consumers ........................................................................................................................... 10-3-19 Apparency or UV Protection? .................................................................................................... 10-3-21 Habitat ...................................................................................................................................................... 10-3-21 Terrestrial .......................................................................................................................................... 10-3-21 Peatlands ........................................................................................................................................... 10-3-25 Springs .............................................................................................................................................. 10-3-26 Waterfalls .......................................................................................................................................... 10-3-26 Aquatic .............................................................................................................................................. 10-3-26 Pollution ..................................................................................................................................... 10-3-27 CLASS MALACOSTRACA, ORDER MYSIDA .......................................................................................... 10-3-27 CLASS MALACOSTRACA, ORDER DECAPODA .................................................................................... 10-3-27 Summary ......................................................................................................................................................... 10-3-29 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................... 10-3-29 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................................... 10-3-29 10-3-2 Chapter 10-3: Arthropods: Crustacea – Isopoda, Mysida, and Decapoda CHAPTER 10-3 ARTHROPODS: CRUSTACEA – ISOPODA, MYSIDA, AND DECAPODA Figure 1. Porcellio scaber eating Pleurozium schreberi at midnight in Houghton, Michigan, USA. Photo by John Hribljan, with permission. CLASS MALACOSTRACA, ORDER ISOPODA Then there are the Isopoda (Figure 1), the well-known for preferences. Nevertheless, they should not be pillbugs, woodlice, roly polies, potato bugs, or sowbugs considered as models for the feeding preferences of other (but they aren't bugs!). These aren't insects at all, but are invertebrates, as you will see when we discuss digestion. arthropods with legs on each segment, sometimes included I have a small moss garden, and it is occasionally the among the multipedes, which is an unofficial classification site of my experiments, planned or otherwise! I had referring to arthropods with many legs. And at least some inherited a mat of mosses that had made themselves of them seem to love mosses. unwelcome on an asphalt parking lot. Some of these I had As a teacher, these were my favorite creatures. They draped over a large rock in hopes that they would find it have wonderful behavior responses to all sorts of things, similar to their past home. In an attempt to keep them in especially light, moisture, and contact. Hence, they were place, I had used a mix of raw egg to act as glue. All excellent experimental organisms for behavior experiments seemed well for 2-3 weeks. Then one day when I went to for beginning students. They were easy to collect (just put look at them the mat looked like Swiss cheese! This carpet out potatoes, with holes drilled through them, in a of a half-meter diameter had numerous relatively large deciduous forest and give them 2-3 days to colonize). And holes in it! I found the carpet was loose, so I lifted it from they responded quickly and predictably. the rock. As I did that, woodlice (mostly Porcellio scaber, But for research on herbivory on bryophytes, these Figure 2) fell to the ground and scrambled for cover. There organisms are unparalleled. Both aquatic and terrestrial were at least 20 of them! And many still remained on or species eat mosses, are abundant, and can be used to test within the mat. Chapter 10-3: Arthropods: Crustacea – Isopoda, Mysida, and Decapoda 10-3-3 Figure 4. Trachelipus rathkii, an isopod that lives among epiphytic mosses in Hungary. Photo by Dragiša Savić, with permission. Figure 2. Porcellio scaber, a common moss inhabitant. Photo from <www.aphotofauna.com>, with permission. External Anatomy Compared to other arthropods, the isopods, at least on Isopods have two compound eyes (Figure 5) that land, probably have the most interaction with the bryophyte permit them to detect motion easily. They have a very community. Božanić (2008) sampled 66 mosses and small head, long thorax, and short abdomen (Figure 6). extracted their inhabitants using heat with a Tullgren There are two pairs of antennae, but the first is short and apparatus. She recorded multiple factors to determine the not always visible (Figure 5). That pair may have a niche requirements of the faunal species. The mosses chemosensory function to detect odors and tastes (Massey represented 15 species. The Isopoda were the most University 2014). The second pair of antennae is large and abundant taxa (439 individuals); others included easily seen; the function is tactile (touch sensation). Chilopoda (centipedes), Diplopoda (millipedes), Araneae (spiders), Pseudoscorpionida (pseudoscorpions), Opilionida (daddy-long-legs), Lumbricidae (earthworms), and Formicidae (ants). The diplopods (another multipede) were second in abundance (240 individuals). The most important environmental factors in determining the faunal higher taxa were type of substrate, height above ground, and moss/sample area. The species factors, like those of the higher taxa, were substrate type and height above the ground, but in addition to these the tree diameter was important, possibly indicating colonization time. Farkas Figure 5. Isopod head showing compound eyes. Note