Life cycle of Armadillidium tunisiense from the Chambi National Park
(Kasserine, Tunisia)
Abstract
1. Data on reproductive features of temperate terrestrial isopods
species is well-known, for some species this knowledge is still
incipient. Armadillidium tunisiense is a newly discovered and endemic
Tunisian with an only recent study concerning its breeding patterns. 2.
Seen the interspecific and intraspecific variations due to local
variations in environmental conditions. We decided to describe the main
characteristics of A. tunisiense’s life cycle from the Chambi mountain,
the highest point in Tunisia, by determining the population structure;
the reproduction dynamics, the sex ratio and fertility. 3. The breeding
patterns and the reproductive cycle of A. tunisiense were studied on
2908 individuals collected on regular bias from July 2009 to July 2011
from the Chambi mountain. Our specimens were divided into six
categories. Where females were followed from the day of collection until
their death. An in-depth study of a well-defined number (35 specimens)
of reproductive females were desiccated to define the fertility by
counting the eggs contained in the marsupium. 4. We found that A.
tunisiense from the Chambi mountain is a semelparous species with a
seasonal reproductive pattern, characterized by a reproduction period
followed by a sexual rest. Also, we could’ve confirmed the positive
relationship between the sizes of ovigerous females and fertility. With
5 eggs recuperated in a 5.2 mm female while 33 eggs were encountered in
an 8 mm female. As well as for the sex ratio which characterized by
fluctuation (0.49-1.12), but mainly in favor of females over that of
males. 5. The combined results of the previous study and ours maintain
on the role of environmental conditions that interfere to explain the
interspecific variations were observed for the launch and the duration
of the reproduction period. Thus, altitude might confirm the
intraspecific variations between both studied populations of A.
tunisiense.