Pill Bugs or Roly Poly Ollies  

 This week in AP Biology we learned about pill bugs for our first big lab. Pill bugs also know as roly polys or pill bugs are very interesting creatures. Their scientific name is Armadillidiidae vulgare. Pill bugs are also part of the crustacean family, which is animals such as crabs and shrimps. Unlike its family members pill bugs can spend their entire life on earth. Pill bugs enjoy cool and dark places such as underneath a rock or in a basement. They can also be found in biomes all over the world. Pill bugs are a grey earthy color, but can be found in Europe with red dots giving them protection because other organisms associate them with black widow spiders. They have a an exoskeleton made up of chitin as we learned earlier is a carbohydrate. Pill bugs have seven jointed legs and two pairs of antennas but you can only see one. A pill bug's diet consists mostly of decomposing plants and animals. An interesting fact about pill bugs is that they have gills to breathe although they cannot live when submerged in water. Pill bugs get their nickname roly poly because of a defensive mechanism they have which they have that makes them roll up into a ball.
   Pill bugs are very interesting creatures they have odd quirks such as blue blood or drinking water with their anus.


P.S. (Roly Poly Ollies is my nickname for pill bugs)