Coprophagy in detritivores: methodological design for feeding studies in terrestrial isopods (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea)

Abstract

Isopods consume feces in laboratory conditions. We investigated the effects of coprophagy on food consumption and assimilation and on isopod biomass to determine the best methodological design for feeding performance experiments. We used three species of isopods representing different eco-morphological groups and two leaves with different nitrogen content. We tested three treatments: (1) free access to feces; (2) periodic removal of feces and (3) net acting as a barrier to the feces. We did not find significant difference in any isopod or leaf species for consumption rate. Assimilation efficiency did not differ significantly for any isopod or leaf either. Only growth rate was significantly different, but only for the species Atlantoscia floridana (Van Name, 1940) with the leaf Machaerium stipitatum, and it may be due to the short duration of experiments and the isopods’ susceptibility to environmental changes. Thus, we recommend the treatment access to study consumption and growth rates since it does not require any special material or extra time. If the focus is assimilation efficiency, we suggest the treatment removal because it provides more accurate values. Furthermore, more fragile species such as A. floridana require larger sample number and/or longer experiment duration for more reliable data analyses.