Did you know roly-polies, or pill bugs, aren’t even bugs? They’re isopods, meaning they have equal feet, and they’re technically crustaceans. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Roly-Poly Isopods”
Well, Grant, I have a correction to make.
Oh.
A few episodes ago, we talked about roly-poly bugs, remember? All the different names for them, like wood lice and sow bugs and all of those things. You and I call them roly-poly bugs.
Well, we heard from a few people, including Lucy Zeldinrust from Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Lucy’s a retired biology teacher who wrote to say, roly-poly bugs aren’t bugs at all.
No?
No.
No. They’re isopods.
Oh?
They’re not bugs.
Oh. Isopods comes from Greek words that mean similar or equal and foot. So they have equal feet. And they’re crustaceans. They’re a distant kin of shrimps, crabs, and crayfish.
I see. Who knew, besides all the biologists out there?
Right. I didn’t think that bug was specific or scientific enough to matter much, but okay, I’ll accept the correction.
Yeah, yeah. Have you ever seen a land crab? These are incredible. They look just like the sea crabs, but they dig in the dirt. They’re in China and other places.
Crazy.
Really?
Yeah. Land crabs? I assume that they’re related to roly-polies as well.
Land crabs, yeah. Are they related to land sharks?
I don’t know. Let’s hope not.
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