Discover how pill bugs breathe with gill-like lungs, why they love damp places, and what happens when they dry out.
Pill bugs are common but unique creatures that are found throughout the world, including the U.S. They’re also known as rolly pollies because of their tendency to curl up into a ball when they’re ...
Most isopods, including pill bugs, have 7 pairs of legs. Utilizing pleopodal lungs creates a permanent respiratory constraint on land. Scientists discovered crustaceans successfully adapted to dry ...
Conglobation protects certain pill bugs and also helps them retain moisture. Some predators have adapted to have specialized mouthparts that overcome this armored sphere defense. When pill bugs roll ...
With winter rains, Bay Area pill bugs are out in force. Fortunately, they’re one of our most beloved “bugs.” Pill bugs. Doodle bugs. Potato bugs. Wood Shrimp. Whatever you call them, there’s something ...
You’ve probably seen these little fourteen-legged chimeras at some point, though you may not have paid them any mind since you were a kid. Part shrimp, part kangaroo, and part armadillo, the ...
A research paper titled Biological Organisms as End Effectors explores the oddball approach of giving small animals jobs as grippers at the end of a robotic arm. Researchers show that pill bugs and ...
Most people first notice pill bugs while lifting a flowerpot or turning over a log, then watching small gray roly polies curl into tight balls. Because they share space with ants and beetles, many ...
When pill bugs roll into a tiny ball, the act looks far simpler than it actually is. Known as conglobation, a pill bugs’ “ball” involves a full-body engineering trick designed to protect them from ...