Boing Boing

What do YOU call these tiny land crustaceans?

Cygnus921 CC-BY 2.0

I grew up in Michigan calling these little creatures "rolly pollies" and I also knew "pill bug." I recently realized that the tiny animals have many, many more names than the two I knew— some as odd as "carpet shrimp" and "cheesy bobs." Here's a non-exhaustive list from the Woodlouse Wikipedia article.

All the "bug" names are technically misnomers because they aren't even bugs. They're technically tiny land crustaceans— related to crabs, crayfish, etc. The silly little not-bugs unfortunately are not as tasty as their lobster and crab cousins. They're said to have an unpleasant taste that's similar to "strong urine."

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