Breeding these animals is pretty easy, since they'll take care of that on their own as long as their requirements are met. You can also notice when breeding is about to occur, when males start clearing out an area they're planning to court a female on. There are two ways to sex your isos. The common scientific method is to view the ventral side of the animal. Below their last pair of legs is the area to focus on. Males will have to smaller leg-like projections laying against their bodies. These are the gonopods, which they use to inject sperm into the females' reproductive organs. The underside of the females don't have these projections laying against their body. All you'll see is translucent pseudolungs, as with the male, but no projections. The other way to sex isopods is easier, but may not be 100% for the untrained eye. When viewed from above, male isos are noticeably more narrow than the larger, rounded females. These males will push other males out of their area when preparing to court. Sometimes two males will joust, and you'll see them lining up side by side, facing opposite directions, stretching out and pushing each other. Once an area is cleared and a receptive female approaches, the male will climb on her back, and drum on her back with his antennae and legs, almost to pacify her while breeding is taking place. At this time, his body is slanted over one side of the female. This is when he injects his sperm on one side of the female. Usually, he'll move to the opposite side and do the same. After this is completed, it is the end of the mating ritual. Soon after this, the female will deposit her eggs into her bood pouch, which is in the center of her body on the ventral side (underside). If you're very curious, you can remove the female to a separate container, and every week watch the development of the eggs, which will hatch into larvae in the pouch. The female secretes a fluid in the pouch that contains the larvae until they molt into a miniature adult form (still a juvenile). This is when their gills have been formed into a sort of pseudolung. This breathing organ isn't a complete lung as we know in other animals, but is a type of modified gills. This is why isopods need to be in a moist environment for their whole life. After a few molts, the isos will develop mature sex organs and can reproduce. I've noticed this happening at a fairly young age, and some isos that are 1/4" are already carrying young. A large colony will seem to have young continuously, with individuals carrying young a few times a year.
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