#4464 · 🦀 crabs & other crustaceans
Ant Woodlouse
🇳🇱 Mierenpissebed ·Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Manuel Raab · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Jason M Crockwell · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 3. © Manuel Raab · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Blaise Verrier-Cruz · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © bufologist · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Kathrin Jäckel · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Kathrin Jäckel · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © Kathrin Jäckel · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Manuel Raab · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Manuel Raab · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii is a species of woodlouse which is closely associated with ants' nests, particularly those of Lasius flavus , Lasius niger and species of Myrmica , where it feeds on ant droppings or mildew. 16 in) long, and has a distinctive oval shape and short antennae. Its distribution appears to follow those of the ants with which it lives, and the British Isles are the north-westerly limit of its range. Elsewhere, P. hoffmannseggii ...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 40 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #29 most seen of the crabs & other crustaceans in NL.
- 1,474 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Johann Friedrich von Brandt in 1833 (193 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Ant Woodlouse
- Nederlands
- Mierenpissebed
- scientific name
- Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii
- class
- Malacostraca
- order
- Isopoda
- family
- Platyarthridae
- sightings in NL
- 40
- sightings in Europe
- 1,217
- sightings worldwide
- 1,474
- GBIF records in NL
- 555
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1833 by Johann Friedrich von Brandt
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 205749, Wikidata Q2101485, GBIF 2205012, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.