Bug Blog #3

It's been a few months since the last bug blog! While sitting outside with my boyfriend on a hot and sunny day, a Pill-bug approached us and caught our attention.

The Common Pill-bug (Armadillidium vulgare)

We did not test to see what it looked like curled up but we believe it is a Armadillidium vulgare. The Armadillidium vulgare is a woodlouse native to Europe but has spread to everywhere they can survive. Some consider them pests but they harmless and honestly are pretty cute. Despite being called pill-bugs, they are not insects but instead are apart of the class malacostraca making them closer related to lobsters and shrimp. They eat decaying plant matter like leaves and wood. They can be found outside as long as it's not too hot otherwise they seek shelter. Being exposed to tempatures of 97°F (36°C) or hotter will kill them :(

When feeling threatened, the Armadillidium vulgare can curl up into a ball in order to protect it's underside.

While most of their diet come from rotting plant matter, they are not too picky with their food sources. They have been observed eating non rotting plant matter, animal matter, and their own waste.

Please don't stop them when it's hot :(

The one I took pictures of in the first section was trying to seek shelter, it was 95°F when I took these pictures. Keeping them around just to take pictures is cruel at those temps, we found this out after the fact but luckily we did not do anything to stop it from finding someplace cool.