Abstract
<em>Armadillidium vulgare</em> (Latreille, 1884) and <em>Armadillidium nasatum </em>(Schultz, 1961) are among the most common species of terrestrial isopods in Uruguay. The reproductive pattern of these species was studied, for first time, on a natural population at Department of San Jose (Uruguay) from June 2010 to July 2011. A total of 9136 individuals were sampled, of these 7010 were <em>A. </em><em>vulgare</em> and 2126 were <em>A.nasatum.</em> Adults of <em>A. vulgare</em> were present throughout the year and juveniles appeared from February to November. Juveniles and adults of <em>A. nasatum</em>appeared from January to October, and practically disappeared from November to December. For both species ovigerous females were collected from spring to summer (October to March), this would indicate a seasonal reproduction followed by a sexual rest. In <em>A. vulgare</em> reproductive females cephalothorax width that varied between 1.7 to 3 mm, average fecundity was equal to 39 ± 5 eggs and average fertility was equal to 27 ± 4. In <em>A. nasatum</em> cephalothorax width of reproductive females oscillated between 1.5 to 2.9 mm and the average fecundity was 44 ± 5 eggs. For both species, fecundity and fertility were positively correlated with the size of the females. The incubation period ( = 13 days) and the mancas born ( = 21) were similar for both species.
Highlights
Armadillidium vulgare and Armadillidium nasatum, are terrestrial isopods crustacean with a worldwide distribution and are ones of the most common and abundant species of terrestrial isopods in fields of the Uruguay
Nothing is known about terrestrial isopod biology and reproductive pattern in Uruguay
Quadros et al (2008) studied the reproduction of Neotropical isopod, Atlantoscia floridana, Benthana cairensis, and Balloniscus glaber, in southern Brazil showed that the two first species share continuous breeding throughout the year and similar fecundity ranges, similar to tropical species
Summary
Armadillidium vulgare and Armadillidium nasatum, are terrestrial isopods crustacean with a worldwide distribution and are ones of the most common and abundant species of terrestrial isopods in fields of the Uruguay. Terrestrial isopods exhibit different reproductive patterns: species in temperate regions have seasonal reproduction while continuous reproduction occurs in tropical and subtropical species (Quadros et al, 2008). Tropical and subtropical isopods exhibit longer breeding periods, higher number of broods per lifetime, and lower reproductive allocation per brood as compared to temperate isopods. Quadros et al (2008) studied the reproduction of three isopods species (Atlantoscia floridana, Benthana cairensis, and Balloniscus glaber), from southern region of Brazil, postulated in Neotropical terrestrial isopods, the existence of a continuous reproductive pattern with peaks during spring and summer. In order to confirm this, the aim of the present study was to know the reproductive pattern of Armadillidium vulgare and Armadillidium nasatum in Uruguay
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