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Sticker of Riparian woodlouse
Bug card No. 3646 of 4,939

Riparian woodlouse

Hyloniscus riparius
Eats: Leftovers and dead thingsWoodlicePonds, rivers and shores14 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The riparian woodlouse is a little woodlouse that loves wet places. It lives on flood plains, the flat land next to rivers that sometimes goes under water. It can survive under water for up to eight weeks.

Fun fact: woodlice are not insects. They are crustaceans, cousins of crabs and shrimps, that live on land.
Lives in
Central and Eastern Europe, and now also North America, on flood plains by rivers
Top speed
about 0.15 km/h (0.09 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Like other woodlice, it eats dead leaves and other rotting plant bits.
For real!Photo of Riparian woodlouse
Picture by De Smedt P, Boerave P, Arijs G, Segers S (2018) Woodlice of Belgium: an annotated checklist and bibliography (Isopoda, Oniscidea). In: Hornung E, Taiti S, Szlav. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It can stay under water for up to eight weeks when its riverside home floods.

2

It first came from Central and Eastern Europe and was later carried to North America.

3

In North America it was first found in St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1951.

4

Woodlice are not insects. They are crustaceans, cousins of crabs and shrimps.

you asked

Most asked questions about Riparian woodlouse

?Can a woodlouse live under water?

This one can survive under water for up to eight weeks when its home floods.

?Where does the riparian woodlouse live?

On flood plains by rivers in Central and Eastern Europe, and now also in parts of North America.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Hyloniscus riparius
Group
Woodlice
Family
Trichoniscidae
Classification
Malacostraca > Isopoda > Trichoniscidae
Lives on
Europe, North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Hyloniscus riparius (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by De Smedt P, Boerave P, Arijs G, Segers S (2018) Woodlice of Belgium: an annotated checklist and bibliography (Isopoda, Oniscidea). In: Hornung E, Taiti S, Szlav. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this 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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More from the same group: Woodlice

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores

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