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| [image] Armadillidium vulgare | ||||||||||||
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A woodlouse, also known as a pill bug (genus Armadillidium only), armadillo bug, sow bug, slater, ball bug, potato bug, doodlebug, chuggy pig, roley-poley/roly-poly, butcher boy or cheeselog, is a Terrestrial Crustacean with a rigid, segmented, calcareous Exoskeleton and fourteen jointed limbs. They form the suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda, with over 3000 known species. Contrary to their nicknames, they are not insects.
Woodlice need moisture and so are usually found in damp, dark places, such as under rocks and logs. They are usually nocturnal and are detritivores, feeding mostly on dead plant matter, although they can be a destructive pest in the garden.
In the United Kingdom there are 37 native or naturalised species ranging in colour and in size (3-30 mm) of which only five are common: Oniscus asellus (the common shiny woodlouse), Porcellio scaber (the common rough woodlouse), Philoscia muscorum (the common striped woodlouse), Trichoniscus pusillus (the common pygmy woodlouse) and Armadillidium vulgare (the common pill bug).
They have a Shell-like Exoskeleton. As the woodlouse grows, it must progressivly shed this shell. The moult takes place in two stages. The back half is lost first, followed two or three days later by the front. Some woodlice are able to roll into a ball-like form when threatened by predators, leaving only their armoured back exposed. It is this ability which explains many of the woodlouse's common names.
A female woodlouse will keep fertilised eggs in a patch on the underside of her body until they hatch into small, pink offspring. The mother then appears to be "giving birth" to her offspring.
Woodlice are also used in AP Biology classes (lab 11) to study animal behavior.