Family PORCELLIONIDAE

Porcellionides pruinosus (Brandt, 1833)

This is a cosmopolitan synanthropic species introduced to New Zealand. It has been collected in Auckland, but is not very common.

Colour dull grey with whitish legs and white bands on antennae. Live animals have powdery "bloom" on the surface, similar to the bloom on black grapes.This species does not roll into a ball, and moves rapidly. In live animals two pairs of pleopodal lungs can be seen ventrally (not visible in preserved specimens).

This species is similar to Porcellio scaber, but can be recognised by the absence of dorsal sculpture of raised bumps, the simple (vs. tri-lobed in P. scaber) front margin of the head, and the interrupted body outline between pereon and pleon (vs. uninterrupted oval outline in P. scaber).