the.com/pillbug
the only crustacean that ditched the ocean and learned to roll into a tiny tank.
means A small land-dwelling crustacean (an isopod) that can roll its segmented, armored body into a tight ball when threatened, commonly found under rocks and rotting logs in damp places.
from A plain English compound of "pill" and "bug" — "pill" because the creature curls into a neat little ball, like a pill ready to swallow, and "bug" because that's what people call any small crawling thing, even when it's no insect at all (this one is a true crustacean, kin to crabs and shrimp). The "pill" word itself traces back through Latin pilula, "little ball," a diminutive of pila, "ball." The animal collects nicknames the way it collects damp leaves: roly-poly, woodlouse, sowbug — each a different region's attempt to name the thing that rolls.
- not insect
- It's a crustacean, kin to crabs and lobsters
- gill breather
- Breathes through gills, needs damp to survive
- blue blood
- Copper-based hemocyanin tints its blood blue
- metal eater
- Stores heavy metals others find toxic
- backward birth
- Carries young in a fluid-filled belly pouch
armadillidium vulgare — most common pill bug species worldwide, rolls into a ball when threatened
oniscus asellus — wood louse species native to europe, often found in damp basements and gardens