Lava Isopods (Porcellio scaber)

Under the fiery colouring sits a famously tough animal. The Lava is a selectively bred morph of Porcellio scaber, the common rough woodlouse you would turn up under any garden plant pot, dressed in dramatic red, orange and black that reads like cooled volcanic rock. The looks are designer tier; the constitution is pure weed. That is the whole pitch, and it is why the Lava is one of the best-value striking morphs a new keeper can buy. Every colony we send is captive-bred here in the UK.

One quick note to avoid a common mix-up: this is the hardy European Porcellio scaber 'Lava'. It is not our Lava Ardentiella, which shares the name but is a demanding tropical species with completely different care. Our guide to the two Lava isopods sets them side by side.

Appearance

Adults reach around 15 to 17 mm, with the bumpy, textured shell that gives scaber its name, Latin for 'rough'. A dark base is broken by warm orange and red, and the distribution varies animal to animal, so a colony looks like a scatter of individual little lava flows rather than a set of identical copies. That variation gives serious keepers something to line-breed towards if they want to push the colour brighter. Note that, being a Porcellio, the Lava does not conglobate; startled, it relies on staying still and playing dead rather than rolling into a ball.

Care

This is where the Lava earns its beginner reputation. It handles a wide band of conditions, 17 to 26°C and 55 to 70% humidity across the tub. An English home averages about 19°C over the heating season and about 21.5°C in July and August, so a heated room keeps the tub inside 17 to 26°C for most of the year with no heat mat, though it ticks over more slowly through the colder months; a room that drops below 17°C in winter wants one on a thermostat, fixed to the side of the tub and never underneath. Its ancestors are European, so it is built for our climate. Work to a moisture gradient rather than a single wet tub: keep about a third damp with sphagnum and leaf litter, let the rest run drier, and it will move between the two as it needs. Give at least 5 cm of organic topsoil and flake soil with plenty of leaf litter, rotting wood and cork bark over the top, and mix some crushed limestone through for steady calcium.

Diet

Lava are unfussy generalists that will take almost any organic matter: a constant base of hardwood leaf litter and decaying wood, vegetable once or twice a week, occasional fruit, and mushroom, which they are keen on. Do not skimp on protein. Like all P. scaber they are protein-hungry and will turn on each other if underfed, so offer fish flake, dried daphnia or similar a couple of times a week, on the dry side where it will not spoil, alongside a permanent calcium source. A springtail culture completes the cleanup crew.

Breeding

Lava breed reliably and at a manageable, steady pace rather than an overwhelming one, which is a virtue if you would rather observe a colony than fight a population boom. Sub-adults often start before they are fully grown, a starter group throws visible mancae within four to eight weeks, and you will have a substantial colony inside six months. Not every baby carries the lava pattern, and selectively breeding the brightest is a project in its own right; our notes on isopod genetics and morphs go further.

Who is this for?

The Lava suits almost anyone: a first designer morph for a new keeper, a hardy cleanup crew, or a breeding project for someone chasing brighter colour. It sits happily beside the black-and-white Moo Cow and the rest of the Porcellio range, and our guide to the different types of Porcellio helps you compare. About the only keeper it does not suit is one set on watching an isopod conglobate, which this one will never do.

All stock is captive-bred here in the UK and travels under our live arrival guarantee, in a ventilated deli tub with damp sphagnum inside a double-walled box. We post Monday to Thursday by Royal Mail Tracked 24, or Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm if you choose Next Day at checkout, with a 20% overcount in every order. Setup components are in our accessories range.