A new woodlouse for Scotland

Oritoniscus flavus was discovered near Edinburgh last autumn by Buglife staff, as part of a site survey organised by The Wildlife Information Centre. This woodlouse is well established in the south east of Ireland and has recently been discovered at a couple of sites in south Wales, but is otherwise unknown from British mainland. Further afield this woodlouse is known from France and northern Spain. The Edinburgh records extend this species global distribution northwards by 200 miles!

A new woodlouse for Scotland (Oritoniscus flavus) © Paul Richards

The populations in south Wales are thought to have colonised from Ireland, presumably transported inadvertently by man. How this woodlouse came to be in south east Scotland is less clear, but it is common at the sites where it has been found so has probably been in the area for while. However, this could be a very localised population which would explain why it has not been recorded before. Fortunately this woodlouse is quite distinctive so it should be easy to define its range with more recording. More information about this discovery can be found in our Scottish newsletter.

For more information about woodlice please visit the new BMIG website