| Hemilepistus reaumuri | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Isopoda |
| Suborder: | Oniscidea |
| Family: | Agnaridae |
| Genus: | Hemilepistus |
| Species: | H. reaumuri
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| Binomial name | |
| Hemilepistus reaumuri (H. Milne-Edwards, 1840) [Note 1]
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| Synonyms [1][2] | |
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Hemilepistus reaumuri is a species of woodlouse or isopod that lives in and around the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, "the driest habitat conquered by any species of crustacean, not including insects which are now known to be crustaceans pancrustacea".[3] It reaches a length of 22 mm (0.87 in) and a width of up to 12 mm (0.47 in), and has seven pairs of legs which hold its body unusually high off the ground. The species was described in the Description de l'Égypte after the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria of 1798–1801, but was first formally named by Henri Milne-Edwards in 1840 as Porcellio reaumuri. It reached its current scientific name in 1930 after the former subgenus Hemilepistus was raised to the rank of genus.
H. reaumuri occurs at great population densities and fills an important niche in the desert ecosystem. It feeds on plant leaves, obtains most of its water from moisture in the air and sand, and is in turn an important prey item for the scorpion Scorpio maurus. H. reaumuri is only able to survive in such arid conditions because it has developed parental care of its offspring. Adults dig burrows which are inhabited by family groups, which are recognised using pheromones. The burrows are 40–50 cm (16–20 in) deep, and the woodlice retreat to the relatively cool and moist conditions of the burrow when surface conditions are unfavourable. The territorial limit of each colony is marked with a faecal embankment.
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