the.com/woodlouse
a tiny ocean refugee that crawls on land while still breathing like a fish
means A small land-dwelling crustacean with a segmented, armored grey body, found in damp, dark places like under logs and stones, and able to roll into a ball when threatened.
from A plain English compound of 'wood' and 'louse': it haunts rotting timber, and 'louse' (Old English 'lūs') was once a catch-all for any small creeping pest, not just the insect on your scalp. The 'wood' part fits its damp, log-dwelling habits, and the name has spawned a riot of regional cousins — pill bug, sowbug, slater, roly-poly — each capturing a different quirk of the same little tank.
- actually crustacean
- More closely related to lobsters than insects
- gill lungs
- Breathes through gill-like structures needing damp air
- toilet drinker
- Absorbs water through its rear end
- copper blood
- Blood runs blue from copper-based hemocyanin
- defensive roll
- Some species curl into perfect armored spheres
armadillidium vulgare — the pill bug, found on every continent except antarctica, curls into a ball when threatened
porcellio scaber — the common rough woodlouse, gray and textured, most widespread species in europe and north america