Student names : Susmitha.L, Anna, Shilpa

College : CMR National PU college, ITPL

Specimen name: Pill bug

Phylum: Arthropods

Subphylum: Crustacea

Class: Malacostraca

Superorder: Peracarida

Order: Isopoda

Suborder: Oniscidea

Specimen collected from: home

Specimen observed at: CMR National PU College, ITPL, on 28 Aug 2019

I observed a kind of insect which used to roll itself into a ball when touched. Initially I thought it was a worm , since it had a lot of legs. So, I was interested to know what kind of insect was that. As a result I took that insect to college & prepared slides, dissecting it’s each part with the help of my friends observed it under fold scope. Now as I have come to know that it was the pill bug belonging to the family Armadillidiidae, gives a kind of knowledge about those insects which are rarely seen .

There common names are pill bug , roly polies, slaters, potato bugs. The best known species in the family is Armadillidium vulgare. T hese insects are able to form their bodies into ball shape, in a process known as conglobation. This behavior is shared with pill millipedes, armadillos, and cuckoo wasps. 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.