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Hello Victor; I sometimes clean large vertebrate skulls by placing them in a compost pile, enclosed in a loose mesh bag. There are almost always woodlice (Armadillidium sp) in, and on the specimen. I'm not sure that I can tell if they are eating the tissues...but they look like they are, usually after the specimen has dried out a bit. Various flies, silphid and dermestid beetles are the principle participants. I hope this helps. Jim Des Lauriers

Thank you so much, Jim. That is very interesting indeed!

Victor; I neglected to mention that the description is from Southern California.

Regards, Jim Des Lauriers.

Noted with thanks.

in my research i feed semi-terrestrial isopod Ligia Exotica with dead fish and shrimp (freshly of course), and ligia ate them happily. wish that could help.

That is unexpected, Le. Thanks very much for your contribution!

Dear Victor, I'm aware that my response is coming four years after your initial question, but I would like to draw attention to a wide range of omnivorous scavenger behaviors, possibly including predatory behaviors, that I and many others have observed. I hope this information will prove valuable for future individuals who come across this discussion.

In the literature, Pechal et al. (2015) documented instances of A. vulgare feeding on a human cadaver, and I suspect there may be additional records of similar observations that I have yet to encounter. Additionally, within the pet trade community, a few species are known to gnaw on reptiles, amphibians, and insects, especially during molting. Specifically, there are reports of P. aff. laevis displaying diverse feeding behaviors, including consuming various organisms such as deceased fish (as seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fEWxdJSIBw) and a mouse (as shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIlHNVbot7k). In the field, I have personally observed P. scaber feeding on deceased Eisenia fetida, Tachycines asynamorus, and (possibly live) beetle larvae.

I hope this information proves valuable for any future inquiries on this topic.

Best,

Nathan Jones

Thanks, Nathan, for your thorough response. It is very interesting to us... Stefano Taiti ; Maria A. Minor

In case it helps, in this (Article The deepest living woodlouse in the Czech Republic

Wow Jose, that's amazing! Thanks for the reference and anecdotes.

There is a fantastic example from New Zealand which I notice has not been mentioned during this discussion, and that is Scyphax ornatus. A species which feeds solely on carrion, particularly drowned bees.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03014223.1987.10423018

On several occasions, terrestrial isopods collected in carrion traps placed for forensic entomology studies have been sent to me for identification. Also, in a recent published study, several species appeared in carrion traps.

The species that have come to eat these baits are Cylisticus convexus, Porcellio laevis, Proporcellio cf. guadalajarensis and Armadillidium vulgare. However, other species detected in the same study areas have not eaten these carrion.

Pig liver: Cylisticus convexus, Porcellio laevis

Pig corpse: Proporcellio cf. guadalajarensis

Chicken carrion: Armadillidium vulgare, Porcellio laevis

Thanks Thomas Hughes for your response and Quilter's paper. I have collected S. ornatus in New Zealand before, but have never observed their scavenging feeding habits. 😳

Thanks Lluc, A. vulgare is quite abundant here in New Zealand. Very interesting signs of scavenging behaviour!