Mesoniscus is a
genus of
woodlice, placed in its own family, Mesoniscidae, and
section, Microcheta. It contains two species – Mesoniscus alpicolus and Mesoniscus graniger – that live in Central and Eastern Europe, mostly in and around caves.
The first description of a woodlouse now in the genus Mesoniscus was in 1858, when
Camill Heller described "Titanethes alpicolus" in 1858.[4] This was followed in 1865 by the description by János Frivaldszky (Ján Frivaldský) of the subspecies "Titanethes alpicolus graniger".[4]
Mesoniscus is the only genus in the family Mesoniscidae,[5] and is considered so distinct from other woodlice that the family is placed in a separate
section, named Microcheta.[5][6]
Ecology
Mesoniscus species lack the
pleopodal lungs found in many other woodlice, and are restricted to damp environments.[7]
^Christian Schmidt & Johann Wolfgang Wägele (2001). "Morphology and evolution of respiratory structures in the pleopod exopodites of terrestrial Isopoda (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea)". Acta Zoologica. 82 (4): 315–330.
doi:
10.1046/j.1463-6395.2001.00092.x.