Filippinodillo is a genus of tropical woodlice in the family Armadillidae, and the animals the hobby keeps under that name are undescribed forms, most of them sold as Philippine, each under a trade name such as the Nakar isopod, the Leopard Bee or the Giant Bumblebee. Their care comes down to four things held at once: steady warmth of 22 to 26°C; a deep substrate kept mostly damp with a drier end; plenty of leaf litter, rotted hardwood and calcium; and moving air, because stagnant humid air is how these colonies are lost.
The genus and its names
Helmut Schmalfuss named Filippinodillo in 1987, when he described its type species, Filippinodillo maculatus, from Cebu. The spelling starts Filipp-, with one L and then two Ps. The trade often misspells it, and our own listings got it wrong too until August 2026. It sits in Armadillidae, the family that also holds Cubaris.
Four species have been formally described: F. maculatus, then F. kimberleyensis in 1998 from the Kimberley in Western Australia, then F. flavimaculis and F. palawanensis in 2001, both from the Philippines. So despite its name, the genus is not purely Philippine. When I checked in October 2026, GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, held just three specimen records for the whole genus, all from Western Australia in 1988.
The animals in the hobby are another matter. I have found no published identification that matches any of them to one of the four described species, so ours go out as Filippinodillo sp. with the trade name in quotation marks, never as a species name of their own. Even the genus label rests on hobby convention rather than any checked identification I have found, and one seller lists the Giant Bumblebee as Cubaris/Filippinodillo sp. I have also found nothing that establishes whether the forms below are one species or several, and I would not assume it either way. The trade carries other forms too, under names such as Batman and Megalodon, but this guide sticks to the four I keep.
The Filippinodillo isopods I keep
All four are captive-bred, and where a figure below is a seller's rather than mine, I say so.
Nakar
The trade name of Filippinodillo sp. 'Nakar' points to General Nakar, a municipality in Quezon province on Luzon. At about 1,344 square kilometres it is the largest municipality in the province by land area, and it was named in 1949 after Guillermo Nakar, a guerrilla commander captured by Japanese forces in 1942 and executed in 1943. Sellers tie the line to that area, but I have found no collecting record behind it, so read the name as where the trade says it came from.
Sellers describe bold, high-contrast patterning, and the markings vary noticeably between individuals, so treat any one photograph as one animal rather than the standard look. The 20 to 25mm on my Nakar care panel is a trade figure, matching the one seller size I found, rather than a measurement: I have found no published measurement of the Nakar.
Leopard Bee
Filippinodillo sp. 'Leopard Bee' is the showy one. My Leopard Bee isopods are a bright amber, with a scatter of leopard-like spots and a set of bolder bands on the same body: the spots give the Leopard and the bands the Bee. Juveniles already carry the full pattern, and it holds into adulthood rather than fading. The 15 to 20mm on its care panel is our own listing figure, and I have found no published measurement or seller size figure to check it against.
Giant Bumblebee
Filippinodillo sp. 'Giant Bumblebee' is a different animal from the small Thai Cubaris Bumblebee, and the 'Giant' is there to keep the two apart. My Giant Bumblebee isopods are two-toned rather than banded: a pale cream front over the head and first segments, and a dusky brown rear mottled with the same cream, though the markings vary between individuals. Adults here run 20 to 25mm. That figure is mine, from my own animals, and it is the one on the panel.
Giant Banahaw
Filippinodillo sp. 'Giant Banahaw' is named after Mount Banahaw, an active volcano on the border of Quezon and Laguna whose name is also spelt Banahao. UK shops often sell it as Banaho or Banahao, and we sold it as Banahoa until September 2026. In mine, juveniles carry a dark stripe down the middle of the back between lighter and darker fields, and adults go marbled brown to almost black. Sellers quote 25 to 30mm, my panel gives 20 to 25mm, and I have not measured a series, so treat both as impressions. Two sellers describe it as a rolling isopod.
Set-up and conditions
All four of my care panels give the same conditions: 22 to 26°C and 60 to 85% humidity. The temperature is the band most sellers give for the group. The humidity range is my house figure, since sellers describe moisture as a gradient rather than a number. An English home averages about 19°C through the heating season, below the bottom of that band, so for most of the year they need a heat mat or heat cable on a thermostat, on the side of the tub, never underneath. For moisture I keep about two-thirds of the floor damp and let the last third dry out, so the animals can choose.
Sellers of all four forms call for airflow, and it is the requirement I would take most seriously: stagnant humid air is the failure I see most often in tropical tubs. Set fine mesh or screw-in air vents into two opposite sides so air travels through the box, and let the damp substrate hold the humidity while it does.
Give them depth: at least 8cm of substrate built from flake soil, white-rotted hardwood and organic topsoil, with larger pieces of rotten wood buried through it. Cap it with hardwood leaf litter such as oak, beech and magnolia, deep enough to bury a finger in, and lay cork bark across both the damp and the dry ends for cover. For the ingredients themselves, see substrate components for isopods.
Diet and calcium
The leaf litter and rotted wood are the staple, and a deep layer of both keeps them fed between feeds. Add vegetables in small amounts and a modest protein feed once or twice a week, feed lightly, and lift anything left uneaten before mould sets in. Calcium stays in permanently, as cuttlebone, crushed oyster shell or limestone, because a large isopod wants it to hand at every moult.
Breeding and growth
Expect to wait for numbers from the Banahaw and the Giant Bumblebee. My Banahaw cultures build more slowly than a Porcellio, which is the usual trade-off for size: a settled culture produces steadily, but it will not explode. Sellers mostly agree. Two call the Banahaw slow to moderate and one Giant Bumblebee breeder calls that form a slow breeder, though a Philippine seller says the Banahaw breeds readily with moisture on the higher end. On the Nakar they disagree outright: one describes colonies that build steadily once settled but more slowly than beginner species, while another tags its Nakar as prolific.
Leave a new colony undisturbed for its first few months, keep the calcium and protein going, and judge it over seasons rather than weeks.
Who they suit
Intermediate keepers. All four of my panels rate them Medium, though one seller puts the Giant Bumblebee's difficulty as high. They want warmth, damp and moving air at the same time, and they reward patience, so they suit someone who has already run a tropical colony through a year rather than a first-time keeper. Whatever we have available from the genus is in our Filippinodillo collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Filippinodillo isopod?
A Filippinodillo isopod is a tropical woodlouse sold under the genus name Filippinodillo, which Helmut Schmalfuss named in 1987 in the family Armadillidae. Four species have been described, from the Philippines and Australia, but the animals in the hobby are undescribed forms, most of them sold as Philippine, under trade names such as Nakar, Leopard Bee and Giant Bumblebee.
What is a Leopard Bee isopod?
A Leopard Bee isopod is Filippinodillo sp. 'Leopard Bee', an undescribed form sold as Philippine. It is named for its pattern: leopard-like spots and bolder bee-like bands on a bright amber body. It needs the same warm, damp, well-ventilated set-up as the other forms in this guide.
Where are Nakar isopods from?
Nakar isopods are sold as Philippine, and the trade name points to General Nakar, a municipality in Quezon province on Luzon. Sellers tie the line to that area, but I have found no collecting record behind it. Ours are captive-bred.
How big do Filippinodillo isopods get?
Figures for the forms I keep run from about 15 to 30mm, depending on the form. My own Giant Bumblebee adults run 20 to 25mm. The Nakar's 20 to 25mm is a trade figure, the Leopard Bee's panel gives 15 to 20mm, and the Giant Banahaw's panel gives 20 to 25mm against sellers' 25 to 30mm. I have found no published measurement of any of them.
Do Filippinodillo isopods need ventilation?
Yes. Sellers of all four forms I keep call for airflow, and stale, humid air is the failure I see most often in tropical tubs. Fine mesh or vents in two opposite sides let air move through the box while the damp substrate holds the humidity.
Are Filippinodillo isopods hard to keep?
No, but they are not beginner isopods either. All four of my care panels rate them Medium. They do best at 22 to 26°C and need a damp substrate with a drier end and moving air all at once, and sellers describe the Banahaw and the Giant Bumblebee as slow to build numbers, so they suit a keeper who has already kept a tropical colony going.
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