Common name
Status:
GB IUCN status: Least Concern
ID Difficulty
Identification
The pygmy woodlice of family Trichoniscidae (and Styloniscidae) are readily distinguished from other woodlice by the shape of the antennal fagellum which comprises a tapered cone (of indistinct segments) bearing a terminal bristle.
The genus Haplophthalmus is readily recognised by having distinct longitudinal dorsal ridges on the body which has a continuous body outline (all other trichoniscid woodlice have a stepped body outline) and has eyes composed of a single black ocellus.
Haplophthalmus danicus is a small white to buff species (to 4mm). The longitudinal dorsal ridges, which are characteristic of the genus, are much less distinct than seen in H. mengii and H. montivagus, and it also lacks the pair of prominent projections on the third pleonite that is characteristic of those two species.
The male has a characteristic upwardly directed spur on the carpus of the 7th leg.
