The Temperature Preference of Woodlice

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The Temperature Preference of Woodlice

Zack Lindahl

IB3b

2008-03-12


Aim

The aim of this laboration was to see what temperature woodlice preferred in the range of 21°C-25°C.

Hypothesis

As woodlice burrow and prefer moist environment they are likely to prefer cool places over warm places, so they will probably seek away from the light.

Variables

Independent: Temperature. The temperature was changed via a heat lamp which warmed one end of the plastic box evenly.

Dependant: The number of woodlice present in different temperature zones.

Controlled:

Moisture. Equally moist pieces of paper were placed evenly over the bottom of the box.

Lighting. The lighting in the room was even and the box was placed in a location were there did not occur any major shady spots within it. The light of the heat lamp was filtered out by a piece of paper.

Soil distribution. An even layer of soil was spread over the surface.

Size of zones. The size of the 8 different zones was all measured to be 5 cm in width.

List of materials

40x20 cm Plastic box

Paper towels

Heat lamp

8 Thermometers

Procedure

A plastic box that was large and shallow enough was selected and an infrared heat lamp was put on the short side. The area was divided into 8 zones of 5 cm width. A thermometer was placed within each zone. Moist paper towels were put into the box and a thin layer of soil was spread over it. The initial temperature of each zone was measured and 10 woodlice were caught and placed within the box. The number of woodlice and temperature within each zone was counted and measured after 5 minutes, 15 minutes and 30 minutes.
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Results

Table 1, Initial temperature

Table 2, Dispersion of woodlice after 5 minutes

Table 3, Dispersion of woodlice after 15 minutes

Table 4, Dispersion of woodlice after 30 minutes

Analysis of Results

Chart 1

Chart 2

Chart 3

A majority of woodlice seem to be in the cooler part of the spectrum. ...

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