1. Year 13 Animal Study
Porcellio scaber

2. Most slaters are a mottled gray colour
Most slaters are a mottled gray colour. This gives them good camouflage in their chosen habitat.
Occasionally you will find orange, purple and white slaters. The never appear to be many of these of these other colours. Probably they are selected against by predators who find them easier to find and eat.

4. Porcellio scaber

5. Superkingdom: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Metazoa
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Subclass: Eumalacostraca
Superorder: Peracarida
Order: Isopoda
Suborder: Oniscidea
Family: Porcellionidae
Genus: Porcellio
Species: scaber

6. Superkingdom: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Metazoa
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Subclass: Eumalacostraca
Superorder: Peracarida
Order: Isopoda
Suborder: Oniscidea
Family: Armadillidiidae
Genus: Armadillidium
Species: vulgare

7. Slaters moult one half of the body at a time.

9. New born slaters

10. The female places the fertilized eggs into a brood pouch under her abdomen. When fully developed the young slaters just crawl out of the brood pouch. They are born with 6 pairs of walking legs (periopods)

11. What is the reason that Porcellio scaber excrete ammonia
What is the reason that Porcellio scaber excrete ammonia? Why does this occur?

12. Woodlice do not produce urine
Woodlice do not produce urine. Instead of excreting urine, woodlice excrete their nitrogenous waste in the form of ammonia gas Most animals find ammonia to be too toxic for excretion and so any ammonia formed is normally converted to urea or uric acid for excretion.

13. Woodlice seem to have very high resistance to ammonia and are able to excrete it as a gas directly through the surface of their exoskeleton. This means that they do not need to use energy to convert the ammonia to urea or uric acid before excretion.

15. Pseudotrachae are found on pleopods one and two of both males and females. They have a single opening to the outside. Inside the pleopod they branch out into an array of fine tubes. In this way they increase the area for gas exchange.