Preview

pill bugs

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1489 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
pill bugs
Armadillidiidae is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda. Unlike members of other woodlouse families, members of this family can roll into a ball, ability they share with the outwardly similar but unrelated pill millipedes and other animals. It is this ability which gives woodlice in this family their common name of pill bugs,[1] doodle bugs, or roly polies. The best-known species in the family is Armadillidium vulgare, the common pill bug.
The Classification of the sow or rollie polys:
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Crustacea (Crustaceans)
Class Malacostraca (Malacostracans)
Superorder Peracarida (Peracarida (Amphipods and Isopods))
Order Isopoda (Isopods)
Suborder Oniscidea (Woodlice)
Infraorder Holoverticata
No Taxon (Orthogonopoda)
No Taxon (Crinocheta)
Family Armadillidiidae (Pillbugs) Mouthparts are for chewing and rasping. Sowbugs and pillbugs spend bright daylight hours in damp dark habitats such as underneath stones, logs, leaf litter and other debris. At night they venture out and feed on decomposing organic material, including mulch and grass clippings. They will feed on the tender foliage, stems and roots of young garden vegetable transplants, seedlings and bedding plants. They also rasp the outer skin of cucumbers lying on the ground in gardens, causing fruit to be deformed and blemished.
The pill bugs animals are found in the following types of habitat: temperate; tropical; terrestrial.
Terrestrial Biomes:
Taiga; desert or dune; savanna or grassland; chaparral; forest; rainforest; scrub forest; mountains.
Aquatic Biomes:
Coastal.
Wetlands:
Marsh; swamp.
Other:
Urban; suburban; agricultural; intertidal or littoral. Sow bugs hide in damp places during the day and are active at night. Under moist areas such as bark and stones, they make their burrow (living quarters.) One of the pill bugs' most surprising

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A pillbug also known as a roly-poly is a small land creature that is often found in many areas around the world. They prefer moist areas often living in soil, under rocks, and dead logs. The pillbug which is an isopod begins its life as a tiny egg and as it grows it sheds its old exoskeleton 4 to 5 times. A pillbug consists of three basic body parts, the head, thorax, and the abdomen. Pillbugs eat decaying plants and animals as well as some living plants. The purpose of this experiment was to learn how to demonstrate the scientific method and to learn if pillbugs are attracted to cornstarch. In this experiment I hypothesize that if a pillbug is exposed to cornstarch and sand then the pillbug will spend more time near the…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pill Bug Lab Report

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The pill bug (commonly referred as rollypollys) is a small, segmented land creature that can roll into a tiny ball for protection. Which is classified as a crustacean under the order of Isopoda (Isopoda). The organism is generally characterized by a pair of antennae, seven pairs of legs, and a segmented body (Isopoda - Slaters). Whenever it is disturbed it usually curls into a ball until there no longer a threat. The typical sowbugs or pillbugs live in moist environments outdoors. This is due to the presence of gills, isopods generally live in moist, wet areas and avoid lighted areas. In addition, their diet consist of leaf litter, fish flakes and other vegetation (Burnett). In addition, these organisms do not bite, sting, or transmit diseases, infest food, clothing or wood (Sowbugs and Pillbugs).…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pill Bug Lab Report Essay

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages

    These species are commonly known as pill bugs; they are terrestrial crustaceans that are oval shaped and a little flat. Pill bugs live in gardens, fields, forests or any region that is moist and are most likely found under rocks. The reason behind as to why isopods prefer a moist area is because they don’t have a good waterproofing cuticle wax, which causes them to dry out easily (“Critter Catalog," n.d., para. 8). Pill bugs are also known as “roly-polies” because of their ability to roll up into a ball.…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pill Bug Science Project

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages

    For this project I had observed the coolest bug balls on earth, the roly- poly. They are commonly known as the roly-poly, also pill bug, and wood lice. Its scientific name is Armadilidum vulgare. It is actually not an insect, it is an isopod ( a type of arthropod). It’s genus is Armadilidum, it’s Phylum is Arthopoda, and Subphylum is Crustacea. I have observed that the exoskeleton is a blue-gray, it is an invertebrate, it’s mouth, antennae and eyes are located on it’s head, and it rolls into a perfect sphere as defense when being disturbed or threatened. It has 2 pairs of antennae (one barely visible), it has 2 eyes, it has 7 pairs of jointed legs, and it’s about 3/8 inches long.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pill Bug Synthesis

    • 136 Words
    • 1 Page

    Some conclusions that we got were that pill bugs are not well adapted to areas that might be colder or pill bugs won’t exist in that type of weather. Pill Bugs live under rocks or even beneath the rocks. As it is seen on figure 1 the pill bugs had more movement on the 25 C than in the other temperatures. Therefore, pill bugs 25 C is their normal habitat temperature because it has a perfect weather for them to be able to survive. One probable error that the group had was when one of the pill bugs die during the 0 C temperature because it was too cold for them. At the end of the result it was conclusive that the pill bugs had few movements during colder temperatures like 0 C and 35…

    • 136 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pillbug Lab Report

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages

    For the first part of the experiment we found that four of the five pill bugs found their way to the leafy environment. However, most of their time was spent in the section of soil. For the second part of the experiment where we tested each of the pill bugs separately, we found that the bugs spent most or all of their time in the soil environment, therefore, composing the answer to the question of their most favored environment.…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    bio lab pill bug

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Purpose: The purpose of this lab was to analyze pill bug’s activity in different environments and determine the effect of wet/dry or dark/light environments have on them and how taxis takes place in their choices in living in areas.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The glow worm is found in Caves, and Woodlands. The glow worm eats snails and slugs.…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    They are found in many different places. Their habitats are found in Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Bolivia and French Guiana. These places are in the tropical rainforest, and are usually have a climate that is more humid and the temperatures are usually hotter.…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sowbugs Research Paper

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Contrary to their name, sowbugs (Porcellio laevis) are tiny crustaceans that live in moist environments around the world. These creatures, about 12.5 mm in length, are extremely unique in their physiology, habitat, diet, and behavior. Sowbugs are harmless to humans, but incredibly important to ecosystems. They are found easily in nature, and are quite hardy (Franklin, Julie A.) Though they use gill-like structures, called pseudo tracheae, to breathe, sowbugs cannot breathe underwater but are highly dependent on moisture for survival. Sowbugs can only live in habitats with high humidity and low exposure to light (Buddies, Science). Sowbugs prefer sheltered, humid areas as the sun’s bright light dries them out (Potter, Michael F).…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    jackie robuinson

    • 945 Words
    • 5 Pages

    This lab’s purpose is to help differentiate between kinesis and taxis movements of pill bugs (Armadillidiidae). The experiment is designed to be interpreted in the real world to accurately help locate populations of pill bugs. A choice chamber was filled with four different mediums in four different locations to test the pill bugs’ preference of mediums. The middle or fifth chamber of the choice chamber was not filled with any medium so it could serve as the control group of the experiment. The mediums consisted of pine shavings, moss, mulch, and mealworm nutrient. The movement of the pill bugs was observed and reported every minute for fifteen minutes. After fifteen minutes, the final observation of the location of each of the pill bugs was recorded and used later in the experiment. This method of study was chosen because it provided an easy yet effective way to observe and record the movement of the pill bugs. The choice chamber would offer an easy way for the pill bugs to be located and then quickly have their population observed and written down as data.…

    • 945 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pill Bugs

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Some behavior traits include rolling into a ball when threatened, nocturnal abilities, and being able to travel considerable distances at night. They usually live in warm and wet locations such as dirt, leaf litter, compost piles, or organic garbage. They are also found beneath logs and under rubble piles. They have a limited tolerance for sub-freezing temperatures. During the winter, pill pugs burrow more than 24 inches into the soil to get to a more tolerable temperature. To reproduce the female pill bugs get sperm from the male and lay their eggs in a pouch similar to a marsupial’s during the months of May through September. The eggs hatch in a few days and the babies live in the pouch for several hours before breaking free. When they are born, they have six pairs of legs and acquire the seventh pair during their first molting. Pill bugs molt every few weeks throughout their lives. When they molt, they molt in two different sections. They molt the back end first, then the front end. If a pill bug is half pink, it means that they are halfway through their molting process. Pill bugs only live for about two to three years.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Isopod Behavior Lab Report

    • 1710 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In our lab we were working with isopods, also known as pill bugs or rollie pollies. The isopods that we worked with were land isopods. They like to live in moist places under untouched objects such as boards, bricks, rotting logs and or rocks. Basically, they will live anywhere! If you are lucky enough, you can even find them next to buildings where it is moist and if there is food. All living organisms like certain things and don't like certain things, for example; most animals will try to eat something sugary or sweet, like a piece of candy. While the same animal my not wanting to eat something that is not sugary or sweet like peas.…

    • 1710 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    They are strong diggers, searching for food by scraping or digging. They leave conical holes 2 to 6 inches deep in lawns or flowerbeds as they dig for grubs or earthworms. They prefer to follow the same path every night, revisiting places where they found food the night before. Their vision is poor, but their sense of smell is acute, and they can smell grubs several inches deep in the soil. Armadillos are solitary, living alone in a series of burrows. Their burrows may be 15 or 20 feet long. They prefer digging under trees, rock piles, or concrete slabs, sometimes damaging trees or concrete patios in the process.…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ap Bio Sea Slug Essay

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I believe this has to do with the reaction the Bursatella leachii has towards the sunlight. This hypothesis is based on the idea that the Bursatella leachii eat during the day. Since they are not plants and do not get energy from photosynthesis, they get there nutrients from other animals or plants. Their food could be most prominent in the day time, or maybe it is easier to see, so they spread out to "hunt" during the day time.…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics