Isopod Behavior
Introduction:
Isopods classified are under phylum arthoropoda. They are crustaceans and require wet environments to breathe because they have gills. Hence they are often found underneath stones, logs, leaf litter and other debris in cool damp environments. They have three body parts including head, thorax, and abdomen and have seven pairs of legs and seven separate segments on thorax.
Question:
Do isopods prefer wet or dry environments in general?
Hypothesis:
If isopods require wet environments to breathe and respire, then they will prefer the wet environment and go to and stay in the wet Petri dish.
Materials:
•Isopods (10)
•A special Petri dish that has two dishes connected in the middle with a tunnel
•Paper (to put over the Petri dish bottom)
•Dropper
•Stopwatch
Procedure:
1.The apparatus was set up. The paper was put in both sides of the joint double Petri dish and one side was made damp by adding water with the dropper while the other was left dry.
2.The isopods were gathered and five active ones were placed on opposing extrenes of the joint double Petri dish. There were five on the dry side and five on the wet side.
3.The isopods were observed in time intervals of three minutes. Data regarding movement from one Petri dish to another was recorded.
Data:
Number of pillbugs in dried Petri dish (start with 5)Number of pillbugs in wet Petridish (start with 5)
3 minutes later 6 4
6 minutes later 5 5
9 minutes later 3 7
12 minutes later 5 5
15 minutes later 3 7
18 minutes later 1 9
21 minutes later 0 10
Conclusion:
This experiment served to determine which kind of environment isopods prefer-wet or not wet. It was found that isopods preferred the wet environment over dry environments. Over the 21 minute interval in which we observed the isopods, isopods moved from dish to dish randomly at first when exposed to their new environment. Some isopods left the wet environment to go to the dry environment. This random movement can be explained by behavioral biology. Such undirected movement is kinesis and results when exposed to a new environment. However, after being exposed to their new environment for a while, the isopods started moving in response to the stimuli in place. They started moving toward the wet environment and staying there. This directed movement is taxis. The isopods prefer the wet environment because isopods have gills and wet environments allow them to respire more efficiently. Our hypothesis was also proven correct by our data and analysis.
Published by John Smith
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20 Comments
Post a Commentsally you are wrong he is write
Pillbugs reproduce during the months of May through September. The males possess elongated first and second pleopods
which are used for fertilization (see Figure 1). Mating is seldom observed, but the male will crawl obliquely across the back
of a female and transfer sperm into the genital opening at the base of the pleopods. The female then develops a fluid-filled
ventral pouch, or marsupium , into which the eggs are laid. After a few days, the eggs hatch and the juveniles live for
several hours in the marsupium, absorbing the fluid and finally breaking free
So...Does anyone know the Mating Cycles of Isopods?
Devin and Sally, you're both idiots. no1 special is right. Isopods do have gills. They are a type of crustacean, but the only terrestrialized species. They need moisture so that they can respire and SURVIVE.
a - When suddenly turning a rock, you would expose isopods under it to light. I would expect the pillbugs to demonstrate kinesis and start randomly moving since they would be exposed to a new environment which contains light. They would move around until they locate their new environment possibilities. They would look for a place that is dark as well as moist since they cannot survive in a dry environment. After a few minutes, I would expect the isopod to demonstrate taxis and move towards an area that is at least moist if not dark and stay there or return to it.
Isopods like dark, wet places, nd respond to the environment by using antenna
No. To number 1 speical or w/e. Isopods do not generally have gills. Only some species have them because they are in some shallow waters. But most isopods are terrestial.
If you suddenly turned a rock over and found isopods under it, what would you expect them to be doing? if you watched the isopods for a few minutes, ho would you expect to see their behavior change?
dont read what no1 special wrote, i don't think its right
isopods have gills.
when isopods see that they are in a wet environment, they like it because they have gills and gills+water=a happy isopod. when the isopod goes into a dry environment. this random movement is called kinesis, which happens because the pod is plain old curious, but when it sees that the dry place is......well, dry, they don't like it and move back to the wet areas. now THIS movement is called...um...oh yea..taxis.
(im just reading wat the other people wrote. so, if you want something that makes more sense...read their stuff, not mine.....AND U COULD TRY ASKING UR TEACHER.