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What are Rolly Pollies?

Updated: 8/11/2023
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11y ago

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Rolly Pollies or Pill bugs are not insects, but crustaceans like shrimp or crabs. They have seven pairs of legs, are hatched from eggs, and require a moist habitat. Their prefered diet is rotting vegetation but will eat tender leaf shoots.

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11y ago
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6y ago

The roly poly goes by many names-pillbug, wood louse, armadillo bug, potato bug.

Though they're often associated with insects and are referred to as "bugs," pillbugs actually belong to the subphylum Crustacea.

They're much more closely related to shrimp and crayfish than to any kind of insect.

Like their marine cousins, terrestrial pillbugs use gill-like structures to exchange gases. They require moist environments to breathe, but cannot survive being submerged in water.

Like crabs and other crustaceans, pillbugs tote their eggs around with them.

Though pillbugs do drink the old-fashioned way-with their mouthparts-they can also take in water through their rear ends.

A poked pillbug will roll up into a tight ball. In fact, many people call them roly polies for just this

reason.

Pillbugs have hemocyanin in their blood. Unlike hemoglobin, which contains iron, hemocyanin contains copper ions. When oxygenated, pillbug blood appears blue.

Hadley, Debbie. "10 Fascinating Facts About Pillbugs."

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