- Armadillidiidae
Taxobox
name
image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Armadillidium vulgare "
image2_width = 240px
image2_caption = "Armadillidium vulgare " in its defensive posture
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Arthropod a
subphylum = Crustacea
classis =Malacostraca
ordo =Isopoda
subordo =Oniscidea
familia = Armadillidiidae
familia_authority = Brandt, 1833
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "See text"Armadillidiidae is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial
crustacean group in the orderIsopoda . Unlike members of the familyPorcellionidae , members of this family can roll into a ball, giving them theircommon name of "pill bug", "Woodlouse", "potato bug", "doodlebug", or the more recent and increasingly popularized term, "roly-poly", which has been used regionally as early as 1968. Uncited references also date use of the term in Texas as early as 1925. [ Citation
year = 2002
title = Dictionary of American Regional English
editor-last = Hall
editor-first = Joan Houston
volume = 4
pages = 631
place= Cambridge, MA & London
publisher = The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press]The best known species in the family is "
Armadillidium vulgare ", the common pill bug. These arthropods commonly feed on decaying vegetation and are found under logs, garbage pails or any other place where moisture can be found. Moisture is essential to pill bugs due to their breathing organs, which are like gills. Pill bugs, although often thriving in damp areas, have often been known to live in dry beds. These pill bugs have no specializedpredator s, though they play host to specializedparasitoid s in the fly familyRhinophoridae .Genera include:
*"Alloschizidium "
*"Armadillidium "
*"Ballodillium "
*"Cristarmadillidium "
*"Cyphodillidium "
*"Echinarmadillidium "
*"Eleoniscus "
*"Eluma "
*"Paxodillidium "
*"Platanosphaera "
*"Schizidium "
*"Trichodillidium "
*"Troglarmadillidium "
*"Typhlarmadillidium "Popular Culture
The fictional character of
Retrax andPowerhug turn from robots into pill bugs.Tuck & Roll were two pill bugs featured in the
Disney ,Pixar movie A Bug's Life .The meal served at the restaurant in
The Emperor's New Groove is shown as a giant cooked pillbug.References
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