Some species may only be found in terrestrial habitats, such as soil or organic debris, such as leaf litter and moss.

[1] Thecamoeba vicaria is characterized by its flat teardrop morphology, smooth outline, and convex dorsal surface.

Aiding in its identification is a wrinkled cell surface consisting of multidirectional (rugose) or parallel ridges (striate).

Standing behavior results from T. vacaria elevating most of its cell body above the solid surface or substrate, which is thought to be a response to desiccation.

T. vicaria reclassification was aided by light and electron microscopy methods, 18s rRNA gene sequencing, and comparison to earlier T. terricola data.