Bug name survey

[urbpan]

There's no right or wrong answer to this, I'm just interested to see what different responses there might be.



What do you call this animal?

Comments

[aemiis-zoo.livejournal.com]

A rolly poly (pronounced: roll-e pole-e). I have also heard them referred to as pill bugs, but that was probably in science class or something. Lovely terrestrial crustaceans, they are! =)

I like them, they tickle when they crawl on you!

Go go isopods!

[aemiis-zoo.livejournal.com]

Hmm according to enchantedlearning.com I should have spelled it "roly-poly". *shrug*

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

Pill bug.

[anais2.livejournal.com]

We call them sow bugs. Not sure why.

[artemii.livejournal.com]

pillbug!

when i was a little kid they were always in my sandbox. i loved to "play" with them. (i suppose i've always been strange quirky.)

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

roly poly or pillbug OR roly poly pillbug!

[zipotle.livejournal.com]

Roanoke, VA says ROLY-POLY!

[miz-geek.livejournal.com]

Rollie pollie

[agelena.livejournal.com]

I can't tell from the picture if it's the flatter one I'd call a sowbug, or the rounder, more armored one I'd call a doodlebug.

[ms-cantrell.livejournal.com]

that, and the similar bugs that have shinier armor that doesn't flare a bit at the bottom,is called a rollie-pollie bug. or rolly pollie. however it's spelled.

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

Isopod.

But sometimes I slip and call them doodlebugs.

[momomom.livejournal.com]

Pill bug and also went to grade school in Roanoke!

[turil.livejournal.com]

Pill Bug in Arlington, MA.

Pill Bugs in Mass.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Have you ever encountered ones that "pill up" (roll into a ball) in New England?

My memory isn't what it used to be...

[turil.livejournal.com]

but I'm pretty sure I've seen them here, otherwise I wouldn't have known what they are called. But I certainly don't see them much these days. I'm pretty sure I used to see them a lot when I was a little kid in Arlington. I may also have seen some in Somerville a few years ago, but I'm not positive.

Re: Pill Bugs in Mass.

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

I have, definitely. I find them at the zoo a lot.

Re: Pill Bugs in Mass.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Amazing. A lifetime of looking under rocks and I have never seen them here.

The first time I flipped over a rock in San Francisco I found one. The first rock I flipped over on Easter Island was teeming with them (along with non-pilling isopods and millipedes).

What gives?

Maybe it's a rural/urban thing. Back in the Connecticut river valley, where I grew up, there were only tiny gray slugs. Here in Boston we have the huge leopard slugs (as well as little yellowish ones I never saw growing up). Well, I have a mission now (stupid though it may be).

[godstatic.livejournal.com]

Definatly a pill bug.

Oh, and I would very much like to add you. I'm a student at a local university majoring in horticulture and mycology, and you seem incredibly interesting. Like I said, if it's alright, I'd like to add you.

Take it easy.
-Rob

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Sure thing! I'll add you back.

I'm in a city bristling with Universities, and I doubt there's a horticulture or mycology major offered anywhere nearby. I'm in the weird position of considering leaving Boston to find a good college.

Schrodinger's cat

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

I had been calling them roly poly's or less frequently pill bugs until your visit out here a year and a half ago when you identified them as sow bugs for Duncan. Unfortunately, I now realize I've been calling them sow beetles and even I can tell they aren't any kind of beetle.

Re: Schrodinger's cat

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

As you can see from the other comments, you aren't the only one calling them roly-polies. No common name is better than any of the others. Where did you pick up "roly-poly?" I never heard them called anything when we were kids. I'm sure I picked up "sowbug" from reading those animal encyclopedias. (But I seem to remember calling them "wood lice" more often.)

Re: Schrodinger's cat

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Probably from mom, although it could have been just about any of the kids from SAS. I seem to recall there being a great fascination with the way they curl up into a defensive ball.

Re: Schrodinger's cat

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Oh BTW thanks. Now I've got the Bob Wills song running through my head and it WON'T GET OUT! AIEEEEEE!

Re: Schrodinger's cat

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Bob Wills? "Roly poly, daddy's little fatty..." That one? I didn't know who had done it--but it's been in my head, too.

Re: Schrodinger's cat

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Weird. I don't remember hearing "roly poly" until recently.

I seem to recall there being a great fascination with the way they curl up into a defensive ball.

Are you serious?! Part of my obsession with these things has to do with the fact that I've never seen the "pillbug" kind (with the armadillo defense) in New England. I'm stunned. I'm gonna turn over a lot of logs and rocks in the next few days.

Re: Schrodinger's cat

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Yep that's the song. Asleep at the Wheel got together with the Dixie Chicks and did a decent cover of it as well.

I'm pretty sure they rolled up into balls when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago, I may be remembering it wrong.

Re: Schrodinger's cat

[momomom.livejournal.com]

http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/dimtext/kjn/lyrics/rolyp01.htm

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

Southwestern Ct. kids used to call them pillbugs.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Potato Bug.
Pill Bug.
Rolly-Polly.

[(Anonymous)]

potato bugs or rollie pollies

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

piggywig or woodlouse or slater

[(Anonymous)]

I call them garden isopods. I'm not sure how they are related to the crustacean variety, if at all.

I call them doodlebugs but my wife calls them pill bugs

[(Anonymous)]

I don't understand why people call antlions "doodle bugs." This is a doodle bug. Ant lions aren't nearly cute enough to get a name like "doodle."

Pillbugs roll into a ball; sowbugs don't (otherwise, they're similar)

[(Anonymous)]

Pillbugs (which roll up into a ball for defense) and Sowbugs (which don't) are small, friendly armored creatures that are easy to care for and fun to observe. Okay, so technically they're terrestrial isopods, but we prefer to think of them as the insect world's idea of an armadillo! In fact, the Pill Bug's scientific name reflects the similarity... not to mention their peaceful nature and protective body armor.

[(Anonymous)]

I've never heard of any of those names before?
They're called slaters in Australia...

[(Anonymous)]

i thing u should call it the rolley polley bug i mean it can curl up and u can roll it so y not :)

[(Anonymous)]

Pillbug, sowbug, doodle bug, isopod, potato bug, and rolly polly.
Well, those are all the different names.
I personally call it a rolly polly.
:)

[(Anonymous)]

Also there is piggywig, slater, and woodlouse.
I still call it a rolly polly.
:)