Sow bug , tab hemipterous insect , armadillo bug , roller - up germ , slater — there are many vulgar name associated with the creature I remember from my early childhood as the roly poly . The scientific name for the most coarse roly poly is quite descriptive , Armadillium vulgare . Roly polies are the pocket-sized , segmented , dark grey-headed , flattish bugs I used to have intercourse finding as a kid when I would twist over rocks and brick . When I allude them , they rolled into a tight little ballock . Cautious and closemouthed , yet very lively and resourceful , I ’ve always admire the roly poly .
The Roly Poly vs. The Millipede
Roly polies are not millipedes . I ’ve been throw about this , and for good reason . Millipedes have that same segmented , armoured exoskeleton , and they tramp up in a formal when upset . In Europe there lives a roly poly expect - alike thatisa milliped , commonly called the pill millepede . oral contraceptive pill millipedes are in a dissimilar scientific order , one mention for its resemblance to the roly poly . There is at least one mode you could order them apart : Like allmillipedes , tablet millipedes have two legs per segment of the torso whereas roly polies have only one branch per segment .
The Roly Poly vs. The Sow Bug
Sow bugs and roly polies are closely related to but slenderly dissimilar . Both are types of woodwind lice , a suborder of 5,000 different coinage . Sow bugs are not able to loop into the protective ballock , but they are compensated with two seat - alike appendages that extend from their abdomen .
The Roly Poly Is A Crustacean With A Marsupial-like Feature
If you recollect of lobsters and half-pint when you believe of crustacean , a roly poly might seem like a very unlikely family unit member . These midget tank - like creatures are among very few of their sort that have adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle , but they have not lost their weewee - have it away qualities from their ancestral origin . To suspire on land , their lungs develop in an unusual locating — their paddle - shaped hind ramification . Like marsupials ( and our common garden friend , theopossum ) , the roly poly female parent bear her young in a pouch , scream a marsupium , on her belly . For some species , the female parent might hold hundreds of eggs in this water - fulfill reservoir , and after the eggs hatch , they remain there as long as two more calendar month , longer than some insects ’ entire lifespan . Roly polies , however , are not insects . These crustacean can last as long as two years .
The Garden Roles Of The Roly Poly
While hundreds of different species of roly poly and other Armadillids exist natively in tropical and Mediterranean regions of the humankind , most of what we see in North America are believably introduced species , brought in soil from ships ’ ballasts or in potted plant .
All wood lice are detritivores , which means they feed on decaying constitutional subject , along with the fungi and bacteria that is also present and actively helping the decomposition process . Like earthworms , they produce compost , help oneself air soil and move food around underground . at times , they might damage plant roots , but this is unlikely . They pose no threat to building or sound wooden social structure .
Crustaceans , even these ground - dwellers , need a moist surround . They wo n’t survive long indoors or on dry , exposed surfaces . roll into a ball could aid them retain their body ’s precious H2O , as well as protect their vulnerable soft parts from a predator ’s fangs , such as spiders and centipede .
If you see a turn of roly polies in your family or along sidewalks , pay tending . They could indicate a soggy spot or unwanted dampness . TheTexas AgriLife Extension Service ’s Urban Integrated Pest Managementsuggests the following to forestall a household invasion of roly polies or interchangeable water - bonk critters .
Focus on the exterior of the structure to chuck out them . Once things dry out out , then it should go back to normal .
Also noteworthy , roly polies are well acquainted with minerals in the filth . Their dead body armor requires a dear passel of calcium , and they search out copper and zinc , which peradventure lends them an unpalatable appreciation and helps resist off predators . They ward off toxic metals such as tip , so it ’s a hint to your filth character if you find their bearing . Urban sodbuster and gardeners should get a complete soil trial run to affirm their observations . Roly polies can be majuscule insertion to your soil life and understand the mysterious , complex humans of the overlooked and underfoot .
