OLFACTION IN TERRESTRIAL ISOPODS (CRUSTACEA, ONISCIDEA) - RESPONSES OF PORCELLIO-SCABER TO THE ODOR OF LITTER

In a choice-chamber experiment, we tested the olfactory responses of t he common woodlouse, Porcellio scaber (Crustacea: Isopoda), to differe nt food sources. From our results the following conclusions were drawn : Porcellio scaber is able to perceive food by olfaction. The specimen s do not react to the litter itself, but to the odour of some metaboli tes of the microorganisms colonizing the leaves. At least one attracta nt for the woodlice is one of the by-products of cellulolytical activi ty. Olfactory responses to metabolites released by microorganisms serv e as a mechanism in habitat-finding behaviour.