Amazing Armadillidiidae

Roly Poly Bugs!

I've been giving chronologies for a a couple of weeks now on the build-out that's happening at my office. It's been quite the production on all scales; walls have been constructed, desks have been moved, dust has blanketed everything, and all kinds of little crawly critters have

their way into the office.

I spotted one of these little ones scuttling across the floor today and I stopped to carry it back outside. Of course I've seen these a thousand times over, but never really looked into them - what they are or why or how they roll up when they're threatened. I immediately called it a Roly Poly Bug, but wondered aloud if that's what they were really called. Everyone in my office also calls them that.

I'm a person easily intrigued, so naturally I made a note to research this once I got home.
I'm home.
Here's what I found:

armadillidiidae, aka roly polies, aka pill bugs, aka woodlice.
photog | drew mackie

A lot of people have speculated on these things for a long time. I'm new to the party.

Guess I'll start with facts I found*: 

rollers vs. hikers
photog | calev

1. Roly polies, also commonly known as pill bugs, are not actually bugs [insects]. They are terrestrial crustaceans more closely related to lobsters and crabs than insects. 

2. They came from Europe, originally. The alias Roly Poly was originally a European coining. Erego, we are being quite the accidentally cultured folk when we call them that ;). Hehe. 

3. They don't bite - not people at least. They're harmless to humans and animals but play a very substantial role in the biological decomp process of dead plants & wood, earning their other alias, Woodlice, which I don't prefer due to the stigma associated with the word lice. Be nice, they're not gonna eat you :). 

4. They grow by a 2-part molting process. Rolies have an exoskeleton, so during molting, they crawl out of the back half of the exoskeleton first, then the front half. Imagine if we grew that way? Whoa. 

5. Not all roly polies actually roll when threatened. Some choose to run instead of roll, separating them into the category of hikers. There are rolling pill bugs and hiking pill bugs. Hrmm...

* I consulted quite a few sources for this info: 
- Case study via Harvard University, developed by Harry Dilner of Christiana HS, Delaware
- Wikipedia
- Drew Mackie, New Zealand [fellow blogbot!]
- Macro credit: Calev Photography

smile :) | photog: calev

So anyway, thanks for the prompting, little guy [or girl]. < Oh, and on that gender thing, apparently pill bugs can be determined male or female by their bellies: females are pale underneath, males are dark. On this particular occasion today, I really didn't think to check. Not important anyway. I named the little thing Axel, and Axel went outside into the grass. My apologies, if I'd mis-gendered you, little pill bug. :) 

See? It's basic info, practical and easily-available knowledge, but not commonly known, nonetheless. :) Yay, for research!

xo | cmd

Lazy Little Larunbata

Larunbata!

Translation?
  = Saturday. 
[Kinda cool, yeah?]

Here's one of the [many] benefits of proactively using search engines like Google. This simple example today stemmed from the fact that our Saturday today was relaxing nearly to the point of laziness, which I won't protest nor resent, because it was ideal. I wanted to include the word lazy in today's title, but for the sake of alliteration, needed a corresponding synonym for Saturday. I consulted my every trustworthy Google, and found Larunbata! Not only was I excited to find a consonant-appropriate alter-ego for the first official day of a standard weekend, but I went on to read up on the origin of the word Larunbata. Here's what I found:



compliments of magellan geographix, a google affiliate
[of course ;) ]

Larunbata is the Basque word for Saturday. I wasn't entirely sure if and where that language was still spoken, so I followed a Wikipedia link and in doing so, educated myself. The Basque language is used by the Basque peoples [shocking...] whose ancestors are documented as being among Europe's earliest residents. There are 6 basic dialects of the Basque language: Biscayan, Guipuzcoan, and High Navarrese (in Spain), and Low Navarrese, Labourdin, and Souletin (in France). [*Last line copied directly from Wikipedia in order to maintain reference links!]

I've not had much experience or exposure to early European languages, but I find it fascinating just how many there are within even just one region. The world in which we live is a couldron so vast and so blended with cultures, I'm almost ashamed that I don't do more on a frequent, consistent basis to learn something new every chance I have. My sister speaks fluent Dutch, and I'm still working on that one.

Whew! :) How's that for an entry pertaining to absolutely nothing related to how my day fared? [Really though, my day was event-free, and I embraced it!]

Church tomorrow, and so far promises for a much busier day.

See ya then!

xo | cmd