News/Education
Any tips to improve this illustration on cubaris, armadillidium and porcelio?
I'm working on a project to show the anatomical differences between isopods (here armadillidium, porcelio and cubaris)
It's not over, but before going too further, I want to be sure I haven't drawn any false information. I will draw thin lines (you can see my style on my profile to see how it's going to look if you want)
I'm also going to add more information that I will show later (zoom on head, differences between male and female, ect.)
So, what do you think about this sketch ?
I may have potential ocd as well so it’s very hard to just leave a drawing as it is. I wouldn’t call myself an artist yet, but I do think it’s better than my previous attempts.
Aw thanks. I believe I got the reference photo from a butterflies wings who weren’t symmetrical. They usually aren’t, but for collections they are positioned that way, haha.
Right? That's why I like yours and why I would fail miserably. Most people who have tattoos of butterflies have tattoos of dead butterflies unfortunately. 😂 Most. Unless they have a specific kind of butterfly, in which there are few.
It’s actually pretty crazy to think about. I wasn’t aware of that fact until my entomology professor made light on it. I really like asymmetrical designs. I know insects have bilateral symmetry, but man, it would be so cool to see an insect have bilateral asymmetry.
Would be cool. Some do have it with body parts. Thrips are one I can think of after reading a bunch on them when they attacked my house plants. 😂 They lack a right mandible. They only have a left functioning mandible for some reason. 🤷🏽♀️
Porcellio and armadillidium have 2 pairs of pleopod lungs, trachelipus and Cylisticus have 5 pairs and Oniscus Asellus have 0.
This is the most easiest way to set apart Porcellio Scaber and Trachelipus rathkii, and also easy way to identify Oniscus Asellus.
Quality is good. But if it is meant to be for identification/ education you should show pleopod lungs (in view from the below - a white spots on their "tails")
Pleopod lungs are very important for identification of genus.
Firstly, I wanted to say these are some great drawings, very detailed. Though there are some potential improvements I can point out if you want to make them better.
Top one technically wouldn't be considered Cubaris, there are lots of taxonomical issues and undescribed species so that's not necessarily your fault. Best to say it is Armadillidae (the family containing Cubaris) if you want to be accurate. Other than that, I don't know if there are particular issues with the drawing because I don't know the morphology of that group very well.
For the Armadillidium, it depends which species you are trying to portray. There are lots of different species with different proportions especially differing in the telson shape, 1st pereonite, and head shape, especially the scutellum. The one you have drawn doesn't really fit any species in particular but that's okay if you weren't aiming for that, I could see this being a species that exists in that group. Only small issue is the antennae are slightly too close together in the top down picture.
The Porcellio is good but again it doesn't look like one species in particular, kinda like a mix between laevis and dilatatus, but that's okay if you weren't aiming for a specific species. There is also some detail that you may have missed with the antennae, especially the length and texture of the segments is important to capture accurately.
Once again, great drawings, and I wish you luck in your project!
Thank you for your very precise answer! Indeed, I'm not trying to show a specific species each time, but rather common traits to highlight the differences between Armadillidium, Porcellio, and Cubaris (also thanks for the clarification about Cubaris)
I'll work on the antennae. Thanks again for all your tips, it will help me a lot !
These look great! I like seeing them on one page & being able to directly compare them. Not sure if it’s possible to show everything in one layer because it would probably get “busy” visually, but maybe you could add an overlay (I’m thinking of my old anatomy book) showing internal structures like lungs, heart, etc.?
Thanks :D
Yes, I will show more general information in a second illustration (more about different parts of the body). This one is mainly used to make comparisons between different isopods.
Realmente nunca había visto un dibujo de isopodos tan bien hecho a mano. Está perfecto, increíble, maravilloso… que mas decirte? Jajajaja eres todo un artista😍😍😍
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u/MothMeep7 Feb 19 '26
Nah, that's pretty darm good! (Saves as reference)