Pill Millipede

@ Gerardo Aizpuru, I think you are correct. I changed this spotting from Pill Bug to Pill Millipede. Thank you for your feed back.

Thanks so much. I no for sure that I will remember to categorize this as "other" ,the second time around!!
This way I also got to see Noahs Pill bug collection.:)).

http://www.projectnoah.org/organisms?cat...

"Other" is a category for organisms that do not fall within the...errr...other categories. Other includes but is not limited to: jellyfish, corals, snails, clams, worms, leeches, squid, octopi, unicellular organisms...and...errr...others :-)

That is the reason I included Gordons link. He has categorized it as "other"

No need to be confused. Crustaceans are not supposed to be considered as "other". They are most definitely Arthropods which include Crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, prawns, isopods, etc), insects, spiders, millipedes, centipedes and others. Please look at Noah's collection of Arthropods and you will see that pill bugs are filed there :-)

I understan,so should both Gordon and me move it back to arthropods? I am a liittle confused because I remeber that Crustaceans were supposed to be categorized as "other"

Their cousins live in the water. Their name escapes me right now!!

I love these!! They have a lot of names: Pill bug,roly poly,doodle bug,and potato bug.I am sure there are more, too!!

Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea

Emma Please note that crustaceans are one group of Arthropods :-)

Thanks for confirming. :

Emma, you are correct woodlice are Crustaceans :)

Frazer,pl check
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/100...
So I am moving mine back to "other"!:))

Moved to Arthropods :-)

http://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2009/0...
free lance , i agree that these are pill bugs. Since these are crustaceans , I will have to change the category to other.

Gerardo,the video is beautiful.

freelance,i would say about 3 cm. i should have touched it to see if it rolled up. i know that Mt Diablo has big roly pollies. I found this in the open space near the foothills.

I've seen very tiny (baby) pill bugs and really big ones under the same rock. Could be that you happened upon one that has just been in the perfect, safe environment for it to grow.

Pillbugs are crustaceans - like lobsters, they must molt to grow and they must be in a very safe environment to do this as they are completely vulnerable when they shed their outer shell until the new one hardens. They also need an abundance of moisture and things to eat. They can live up to 3 years and if they've had the opportunity to molt quite a bit, they can get to a decent size. How big would you say this critter was?

Maybe a Pill Millipede Emma they can grow really big.
here is a photo of the same spotting you have.
http://insectsgalore.blogspot.mx/2010_04...

i meant 1/5th. Typo!

1/50th?!?! How big was this specimen?

Thanks freelancing. I am sure you are talking about roly poly. The ones which i have seen are probably 1/50th of this size. This was unusually big.

I grew up calling these "doodle bugs" - but their official common name is Pillbug. If you flick them a little to the side, they'll roll up into a ball. They are often found under rocks or fallen tree limbs where it's dark and moist - sometimes on dog feces as well. They eat aphids and other tiny pests.