[Reproductive phenology of a natural population of Armadillidium pelagicum Arcangeli, 1955 (Isopoda, Oniscidea)].

Armadillidium pelagicum, the most abundant species of the genus in Tunisia is endemic to the North of Tunisia and the circumsicilian islands. In the laboratory and under the natural conditions of temperature and photoperiod, virgin females of A. pelagicum exhibit a spontaneous ovarian maturation, followed by a parturial moult. Nevertheless, the onset of reproduction is greatly accelerated by the presence of a male. In fact, mating shortened the lag time (from the beginning of experiment to the parturial moult) by reducing the number of normal moult preceding the first parturial moult and the duration of the preparturial intermoult. In this species, only one mating is enough to ensure the fertility for several egg layings. Otherwise, it has been shown that A. pelagicum has a reproductive period rather than a reproductive activity and that mating females have a longer reproductive period than virgins. Like several species of terrestrial Isopods, the duration of the gestation period is temperature-dependent.