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THE WOODLOUSE STENOPHILOSCIA ZOSTERAE — FIRST RECORD SINCE 1977 JON DAWS On December 30th, 1994,1 went for a walk at Shingle Street (SSSI), one of the few natural habitats in Suffolk. The weather was mild but windy, with occasional sunshine. To the north of Shingle Street in the estuary of the River Ore the shingle dips into saltmarsh. A specimen of Stenophiloscia zosterae was found beneath a piece of drift wood — along with good number of sand-hoppers — which was in the Strand line on a vegetated shingle spit (TM 375444). The shingle spit was on the landward side of the River Ore, with another wide tidal stream outlet on the other side, half a kilometre upstream from where the River meets the North sea. The previous tide had been quite high and the shingle spit on which the S.zosterae was found had been turned into several small shingle islands. The spit was completely submerged over the following few days. The S.zosterae collected was slightly damaged with both its uropods missing. The woodlouse moved quite slowly when I first saw it, and I thought it was a pale immature Porcellio scaber, but it looked too long for its width. It is possible that this specimen was only collected beause it was damaged. Once under the microscope I could see the three segments to its flagellum and the step between the pereon and the pleon. I have seen hundreds of specimens of Halophiloscia couchi, so I also noted that the antennae were more proportionale to the length of the woodlouse. I could also see it was a male. This is only the fourth record for Britain and the first time this species has been seen since 1977. The other three records come from Slapton Ley (National Nature Reserve), South Devon, Scolt Head Island (National Nature Reserve), West Norfolk, and the Blackwater Estuary, Goldhanger, North Essex. The first two of these records were collected in pitfall traps set on shores composed of sand and shingle, and the Blackwater Estuary specimen was found beneath a stone on a narrow shingle/mud beach below a sea-defence wall. Slapton Ley was the only place that S.zosterae was collected in any numbers, all the other records refer to just a single specimen.
References Harding, P. T. & Sutton, S. L. (1985). Woodlice in Britain and Ireland: Distribution and Habitat. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. Hopkin, S. P. (1991). A Key to the Woodlice of Britain and Ireland. Field Studies Council. Jon Daws, 3 Watermill Cottage, Mill Road, Kettleburgh, Wooddbridge, Suffolk IP13 7JS
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 31 (1995)