SOWBUGS AND ALLIES

Sowbugs (many species)

Order: Isopoda (Sowbugs and Allies)

Size: Up to 1⁄2"

Habitat: Gardens, woodlands; moist places under rocks and logs

Range: Throughout the United States

The large group of invertebrates that includes sowbugs (also known as “woodlice”) are not insects but crustaceans, being related to the crabs and lobsters. They are small and oblong, with a flattened carapace composed of several segments. They have seven pairs of legs of nearly equal length; tiny, simple eyes; and two taillike projections (uropods). Their color is some shade of gray or brown. Some species can roll their bodies into a tight ball and are known as “pill bugs” or “roly-polies.” Sowbugs stay in secluded, dark, damp places during the day and venture out at night to feed on plants, leaves, and decaying organic matter with chewing mouthparts. The eggs are carried in brood pouches on the underside of females and hatch to young that look like miniature adults.