Turn over a rotting log or look under some dead leaves. Do you see little balls that look like hard seeds? Keep watching! They may not be seeds at all. The balls may uncurl and scurry away. Some people call them roly-polies, or tiggy hogs, or potato bugs. But most people call them pill bugs.
Pill bugs often live in forests. But they can also be found on beaches, in basements, or in the cracks of city buildings—anywhere they can find a dark, damp spot to hide from the sun.
Pill bugs are not “bugs” at all—they are related to shrimp and lobsters. They also have gills, like fish. These gills take oxygen from water for pill bugs to breathe. If pill bugs get too dry, they will die.
Like a tiny tank,…