{{Short description|Family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda}} {{Distinguish|Armadillidae}} {{Redirect|Pillbugs|the band|The Pillbugs}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Chattian|present}} | image = Woodlouse poster.jpg | image_caption = An ''Armadillidium granulatum'' in various stages of conglobation, i.e., "rolling up" | image2 = | image2_caption = Pill Bugs stuck together (VIDEO) | taxon = Armadillidiidae | authority = Brandt, 1833 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = See text }}
'''Armadillidiidae''' is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda. Unlike members of some other woodlice families, members of this family can roll into a ball, an ability they share with the outwardly similar but unrelated pill millipedes and other animals. This ability gives woodlice in this family their common names of '''pill bugs'''<ref name="Gordh">{{cite book |author1=Gordon Gordh |author2=David H. Headrick |name-list-style=amp |year=2011 |title=A Dictionary of Entomology |edition=2nd |publisher=CAB International |isbn=9781845935429 |page=343 |chapter=Common pillbug |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9IcmCeAjp6cC&pg=PA343}}</ref> or '''rolly pollies'''.<ref>Franklin, J. A., Byron, M. A., & Gillett-Kaufman, J. L. (2015, August). Armadillidium vulgare. Pillbug - Armadillidium vulgare. Retrieved September 7, 2022, from https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/Armadillidium_vulgare.htm</ref> Other common names include '''slaters''', '''potato bugs''', '''curly bugs''',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Erica |date=2013-04-11 |title=Roly-Poly Slaters |url=https://gardening4kids.com.au/roly-poly-slaters/ |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=Gardening 4 Kids |language=en-US}}</ref> and '''doodle bugs'''.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Kenn Kaufman |author2=Kimberly Kaufman |name-list-style=amp |year=2012 |title=Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of New England |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=9780618456970 |page=364 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wlmg6IYzd_EC&pg=PA364}}</ref> Most species are native to the Mediterranean Basin, while a few species have wider European distributions. The best-known species, ''Armadillidium vulgare'', was introduced to New England in the early 19th century and has become widespread throughout North America.<ref name="IsopodDistribution">{{cite journal |doi=10.3897/zookeys.801.23533 |title=Isopod Distribution and Climate Change|author1=Spyros Sfenthourakis|author2=Hornung Elisabeth|name-list-style=amp|journal=ZooKeys|issue=801|pages=25–61|year=2018|pmid=30564031|pmc=6288265|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018ZooK..801...25S }}</ref>
==Common names== {| class="wikitable" ! Name !! Region |- | Basketball bug || US<ref name=":0" /> |- | Bed pisser <i lang="nl">Pissebed/Bedpisser</i> || Netherlands / Belgium |- | Bench biter || Denmark |- | Bicho bolita || Argentina |- | Carpenter || Canada, US<ref name=":0" /> (certain regions) |- | Cellar bug || Germany |- | Cement bug || Canada |- | Cheesy bug || UK (parts of) |- | Chiggy pig || UK (Devon) |- | Chuckie pig || US (South) |- | Cochinilla || México |- | Curly bug || Canada |- | Dangomushi (Dango bug) || Japan |- | Doodlebug, doodle bug || US<ref name=":0" /> |- | Fat Pig || Ireland |- | Gramersow || UK (Cornwall) |- | Gray sow || Sweden |- | Little pig <i lang="sp">Chanchito</i> || South America (certain countries) |- | Little soil pig/small creature (''porcellino di terra/onisco'') || Italy |- | ''Marranito'' || Colombia |- | Parsons pig || UK |- | Pill bug || Global |- | Possibly "closed door" <i lang="fr">Cloporte</i> || Francophone regions |- | Potato bug || UK, Canada, US<ref name=":0" /> |- | Roll-up bug || US<ref name=":0" /> |- | Rollie Pollie, Roly Poly || US,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Dialect survey |url=http://cfprod01.imt.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_74.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903212243/http://cfprod01.imt.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_74.html |archive-date=September 3, 2006 |access-date=March 27, 2024 |website=University of Wisconsin}}</ref> Canada, Australia |- | Slater bug || Australia |- | Slater || Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland (Ulster) |- | Sowbug, sow bug || US<ref name=":0" /> |- | ''Tatu bolinha'' || Brazil |- | Twiddle bug || US<ref name=":0" /> |- | ''Uri Kadoori'' (sphere-like "Uri") || Israel<ref>Pinhas_Amitai, "''Guide in Color to (70 Israeli) Animals''", Keter Publishing 1998. Hebrew details: מדריך בצבעים לבעלי-חיים: מדריך לילדים, ירושלים: כתר, 1998. "Cadoor" (כדור) is Ball in Hebrew.</ref> |- | Woodbug || Canada |- | Woodlouse || UK, Australia, US<ref name=":0" /> |}
== Ecology and behavior == Pill bugs in the family Armadillidiidae are able to form their bodies into a ball shape, in a process known as ''conglobation''. Conglobation has evolved independently in several families; this behaviour is shared with pill millipedes (which are often confused with pill bugs),<ref name="ARKive">{{cite web |url=http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_terrestrial_and_freshwater/Glomeris_marginata/more_info.html |title=Pill millipede (''Glomeris marginata'') |publisher=ARKive |access-date=June 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617172351/http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_terrestrial_and_freshwater/Glomeris_marginata/more_info.html |archive-date=2006-06-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> armadillos, cuckoo wasps, and some extinct trilobites.<ref>{{cite book |title=Animal behavior desk reference: a dictionary of animal behavior, ecology, and evolution |author=Edward M. Barr|edition=2nd |publisher=CRC Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8493-2005-7 |page=142}}</ref> It may be triggered by stimuli such as vibrations or pressure, and is a key defense against predation; it may also reduce respiratory water losses.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1673/031.008.4401 |title=Conglobation in the pill bug, ''Armadillidium vulgare'', as a water conservation mechanism |author1=Jacob T. Smigel |author2=Allen G. Gibbs |name-list-style=amp |journal=Journal of Insect Science |volume=8 |issue=44 |year=2008 |pages=1–9 |pmid=20233103 |pmc=3127403}}</ref> This defense mechanism is possible because of their segmented body structure. Armadillidiidae have overlapping plates called tergites that are connected by flexible joints. The tergites allow the body to roll up inwards. To roll up, they have muscles called pleopods that contract the abdominal tergites inwards.
The diet of pill bugs is largely made up of decaying or decomposed plant matter such as leaves and, to a lesser extent, wood fibers. Pill bugs also eat living plants, especially in wet conditions, sometimes consuming leaves, stems, shoots, roots, tubers, and fruits. Some species of pill bugs are known to eat decaying animal flesh or feces.<ref name="Orkin">{{cite web |title=What Do Pill Bugs Eat? |url=https://www.orkin.com/other/sowbugs/pillbugs/diet/ |access-date=8 May 2018 |website=Orkin.com}}</ref> They will also eat shed snakeskin and dead bugs, if necessary. This diet has a secondary effect of accelerating the breakdown of litter, aiding in the retention of organic material in the soil. This helps in balancing the carbon content in the soil. Pill bugs also contribute to their ecosystem as detritivores.
Pill bugs are often found in damp places with ample amounts of decaying matter, such as leaf litter and compost piles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.extension.entm.purdue.edu/publications/E-55.pdf|title=“Millipedes, Sowbugs, Pillbugs”|date=November 2017|website=purdue.edu|last=Bennet, Gibb|first=Gary W, Timothy J|url-status=live}}</ref> However, pill bugs can be serious pests in certain agricultural systems, particularly in areas that are prone to heavy rains and flood conditions. Since they are attracted to decaying plant matter, they are often found on farms eating the crop residue. This leads pill bugs to start eating emerging seedlings. This has started to pose agricultural problems in Southern Australia. Farmers in the United States and Argentina have also reported increased rates of pill bugs destroying seed oil and soybean crops. They have also been observed eating wood supports in houses, making them a house pest. Pill bugs will feed on numerous crop plants including corn, beans, squash, peas, melon, chard, beet, cucumber, potato, spinach, lettuce, and strawberry, with potential for significant yield loss in strawberry in particular.
==Classification== The family Armadillidiidae is differentiated from other woodlouse families by the two-segmented nature of the antennal flagellum, by the form of the uropods, and by the ability to roll into a ball.<ref>{{cite book |title=Handbook of the marine fauna of north-west Europe |author1=P. J. Hayward |author2=John Stanley Ryland |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-19-854055-7 |chapter=Crustaceans |pages=289–461}}</ref>
Within the family Armadillidiidae, 18 genera are currently recognized:<ref>{{Cite WoRMS|id=148639|db=isopoda|title=Armadillidiidae Brandt, 1833}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}} *''Alloschizidium'' <small>Verhoeff, 1919</small> (13 species) *''Armadillidium'' <small>Brandt, 1831</small> (more than 200 species) *''Ballodillium'' <small>Vandel, 1961</small> (monotypic) *''Cristarmadillidium'' <small>Arcangeli, 1936</small> (4 species) *''Cyphodillidium'' <small>Verhoeff, 1939</small> (monotypic) *''Echinarmadillidium '' <small>Verhoeff, 1901</small> (3 species) *''Eleoniscus'' <small>Racovitza, 1907</small> (monotypic) *''Eluma'' <small>Budde-Lund, 1885</small> (5 species) *''Estenarmadillidium'' <small>Cifuentes, 2021</small> (monotypic) *''Paraschizidium'' <small>Verhoeff, 1919</small> (5 species) *''Paxodillidium'' <small>Schmalfuss, 1985</small> (monotypic) *''Platanosphaera'' <small>Strouhal, 1956</small> (6 species) *''Schizidium'' <small>Verhoeff, 1901</small> (26 species) *''Trichodillidium'' <small>Schmalfuss, 1989</small> (3 species) *''Troglarmadillidium'' <small>Verhoeff, 1900</small> (8 species) *''Trogleluma'' <small>Vandel, 1946</small> (2 species) *''Typhlarmadillidium'' <small>Verhoeff, 1900</small> (4 species) {{div col end}}
A 2022 study of myrmecophilous populations indicated that these represented a new species of ''Cristarmadillidium'', and three new species within a new genus, ''Iberiarmadillidium''.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Recuero, Ernesto|author2=Rodríguez-Flores, Paula C.|author3=García-París, Mario|title=Homoplasy and morphological stasis revealed through multilocus phylogeny of new myrmecophilous species in Armadillidiidae (Isopoda: Oniscidea)|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|year=2022 |volume=194|issue=4|pages=1312–1340|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab066|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab066|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|32em}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} {{Wikispecies}} * Regional maps for the most common American names for this isopod can be found in the results for question 74 of [http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_74.html the Harvard Dialect Survey]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110012813/http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_74.html |date=2012-01-10 }}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1315837}}
Category:Isopod families Category:Woodlice Category:Armadillidiidae