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To handle them is simple, be gentle and dont crush them, put your hand out and let them crawl to you, and or use a leaf or something to pick them up. They dont trasmit any diseases to humans! its a common misconception that they do, no lyme disease or anything. You can even eat them, (please dont do that.) This makes them a great pet for kids. They dont require handling but its completely safe to do so!

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With isopods, there is a big oppertunity for a ecosystem to develop in a almost teraarium like state. They only decompose and dont eat live things so they have a lot of symbiolic relationships. In my experience i have found little snails, mushrooms pop up from time to time, and the moss i added is flourishing.

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They do breed whenever they are adapted and ajusted to their enviroments. Make sure you have enough space. It took a while for me to notice any babys. They typically lat about 100 babys per pregnancy, wich will develop over a few months. If you look around the edges you might be able to see a cluster of small babys roaming in the dirt

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Where do yoou source these little critters? well its pretty easy, go look under rocks or tree bark in your backyard. There must be a moist enviroment so under dead leaves or fruit trees are also great sports to look. Sometimes you will also find them inbetween sidewalk cracks or next to shaded structures but it depends what time of year it is, and where you live. The best time ive tend to find them is at the very beginning of summer, after spring. Thats usually when they come out, they are also nocternal so keep that in mind! youll typically find them under things. Make sure you find at least more then 3 if you want them to thrive and breed, they live up to a year. They are social creatures and like to stay in groups.

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For their habitat you will need a closed space with glass or plastic. Dont use wood or cardboard as it willl decay and rot. Make sure it has a gridded lid so they dont escape (they cant climb walls unless theirs a path up) and also so they can get some oxygen. At the moment im using a pretty big cricet cage, but im in the process of moving them over to abigger glass fish tank. Anything 10gallons or more should be a good amount of space, but of coarse this also depends on the amount of pill bugs you have

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To fill up the tank, along with substrate and food. You should put some dead leaves, moss to hold in moisture, sticks for them to climb on, and other unessasary peices of nature to enrich their enviroment. This can be bark, weeds, grass, greenery, rocks, gravel, and more!

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You have to have substrate for them to survive, they love to dig and make little tunnle systems. They also lay theri babys down in the dirt so its a nessesity. For a good, bacteria and pest free substrate, i use ecoearth. Its a brand of soil targeted towards reptile owners and is pet safe. It alos dose a great job at holding in moisture wich is a nesesity. Its also importnat not to get dirt from your yard becauses it could have other unwanted bugs like millapeads, wich will overthrow and eat the isopods. You will need at LEAST an inch of substrate to burrow in, but you can do varying levels throught the tank.

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For waste they only make small poops, their tiny squares and dont build up. They actually add nutrients back into the soil wich is very good for the ecosystem! The only other waste is when they die, wich they dont really rot or smell bad at all, they just turn into a little dried up skelecton and slowly decompose.

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Rolypolys are decomposers, they eat dead matter. Such as decaying leaves and any compost! they love vegtables and i give them potato peels and strabery tops all the time. I freeze some of these for treats throught the year i give them once and a while. They also eat the dead bark and substrate i put in there. Dont let the food rot to a point of mold, if its not fully eaten. Be carefull you dont create a habatat of mold though because of the humidity. Mold is bad for them and should be removed imidiatly apun sighting.

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To water them the breath it inthrough their gills, they could also get it from the moisture in their tank. For this i sue a mister bottle and make the bottom of the tank damp everyday to ensure they dont dry out and die.

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Roly-polys depending on the species are typically easy to care for. they thrive in moist decaying enviorment and are very handleable

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(main ones because isopods date bacjk to over 252million years ago and have come a LONG way to be a pill bug) Refer to imadges in previose context

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Since they where more closely related to crustations, many oceanic organisms. Some of wich incude a variety of crustations: shrip and lobsters+
(fan fact: they are closer related to those then any insect on land!)

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Common name: Pill bug

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Roly-Poly Bug Facts. (2019, March 2). Sciencing. https://sciencing.com/rolypoly-bug-6514405.html

Isopoda (Pillbugs, Slaters, and Woodlice) | Encyclopedia.com. (n.d.). https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/isopoda-pillbugs-slaters-and-woodlice

Shuster, S. M., & Wade, M. J. (1991). Female copying and sexual selection in a marine isopod crustacean, Paracerceis sculpta. Animal Behaviour, 41(6), 1071–1078. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0003-3472(05)80645-1

Marcadé, I., Cordaux, R., Doublet, V., Debenest, C., Bouchon, D., & Raimond, R. (2007). Structure and Evolution of the Atypical Mitochondrial Genome of Armadillidium vulgare (Isopoda, Crustacea). Journal of Molecular Evolution, 65(6), 651–659. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-007-9037-5

Adaptations of Pill Bugs. (2020b, November 19). Pets on Mom.com. https://animals.mom.com/adaptations-pill-bugs-6249.html

Red Armadillidium vulgare mutation? - Armadillidium vulgare. (n.d.). 2003-2023, Iowa State University. https://bugguide.net/node/view/902407

Adaptations of Pill Bugs. (2020, November 19). Pets on Mom.com. https://animals.mom.com/adaptations-pill-bugs-6249.html

pillbug - Armadillidium vulgare. (n.d.). https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/Armadillidium_vulgare.htm
Armadillidium vulgare. (n.d.). http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/f2013/miller_kels/facts.htm

Roly-Poly Bug Facts. (2019, March 2). Sciencing. https://sciencing.com/rolypoly-bug-6514405.html

Yong, E. (2016, December 15). A Pillbug's Sex May Be Set by the Bacterium Wolbachia. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/12/when-an-animals-sex-is-set-by-a-microbe/510737/

Rodriguez-Beltran, J. (2022, November 8). What do pill-bugs and Escherichia coli have in common? Nature Portfolio Ecology & Evolution Community. https://ecoevocommunity.nature.com/posts/31303-what-does-a-pillbug-and-the-bacterium-escherichia-coli-have-in-common

Red Armadillidium vulgare mutation? - Armadillidium vulgare. (n.d.). 2003-2023, Iowa State University. https://bugguide.net/node/view/902407

Adaptations of Pill Bugs. (2020, November 19). Pets on Mom.com. https://animals.mom.com/adaptations-pill-bugs-6249.html

Armadillidium vulgare. (n.d.-b). http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/f2013/miller_kels/classification.htm

Pill bugs emerged from the sea to conquer the Earth. (2017, February 9). PBS NewsHour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/pill-bugs-emerged-sea-conquer-earth

Tribune, M. S. C. S. C. C. D. (2015, May 13). The surprising science of roly-polies. Columbia Daily Tribune. https://www.columbiatribune.com/story/lifestyle/family/2015/05/13/the-surprising-science-roly-polies/985744007/

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Pill bugs most defidently have molecular evelutions, however while looking into it there was no reliable source or valuable information i could find. They do have a lot of different ways they have evolved though as stated previosly on multiple occasions.

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When it comes to vestigal orogans, roly polys only have a few. One of them being their second pair of antenea, wich are useless. They use their first pair for eating

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After doing a deep dive through resources, i sadluy couldnt find anything about roly-polys on this subject. However, i do belive that the gills would be a homoglogous structures if they could evolve out of it, but im not sure.

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Of course we know roly polys are decomposers and break down dead organic matter, but what role dose that play for the ecosystem isteslf? lets look at some facts from university studys:
"The pillbugs’ foraging had a positive impact on the ecosystem, shown by increased mineral layer nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium), increased pH, and higher amounts of carbon eliminated from fallen leaves (Frouz 2008)." -The University of Florida

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"Pillbugs were introduced from Europe and are found throughout the world as a cosmopolitan species." The University of Florida states. Seeing as they came from so far, especially their species of isopods as a whole, theres a lot of room for genetic drift. For example Sow bugs and roly polys, their both the same class, but have different anatomicle functions. Such as: sow bugs cant roll up like roly polys. This is due to them evolving in different enviroments.

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Sience direct states, "The opportunity for sexual selection on males can be influenced by ‘female copying’, a form of female mate selection in which females imitate the mate choices of other females." Wich is intresting because it means females contain jelousy and are basically simp for a crustation version of a frat boy, and go with peer pressure and do and want want what other isopod females in their group do.

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a great example of convergent evelution actually draws us back to divergent evelution, they are different however simular in this circumstance. As i stated before in the previose example, "Pill bugs have a variety of different examples of divergent evelution because of how far back their decendents go, one axample of this is a Pill Millipede as seen in the picture, their still part of the arthropada phylum but is a different species with different traits." is one case of convergent evelution, as well as the examples listed in the picture on the right.

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Some examples of parallel evolution is when they went from sea to land. A lot of other organisms did this too and gained high-altitude adaptation.

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the order Isopoda has approximately 10,000 known species in 10 suborders, ecyclopedia.com states

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Pill bugs have a variety of different examples of divergent evelution because of how far back their decendents go, one axample of this is a Pill Millipede as seen in the picture, their still part of the arthropada phylum but is a different species with different traits

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Scientific name: Isopoda
Order: Isopoda; Latreille, 1817
Higher classification: Peracarida
Rank: Order
Phylum: Arthropoda
Kingdom: Animalia

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Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Myriapoda
Class:	Diplopoda
Subclass:	Chilognatha
Infraclass:	Pentazonia

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The isopod came all the way from the body of the sea strating from a tribulite, all the way to the surface like we see commonly now. They migrated and held gene flow throught the year to do this, creating smaller insect like crustations.

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Roly polys have a few different mutations, most of wich arent harmfull and are just appearence based. such as Albinoism, hyperpigmentism, wolbachia, and even, "mutations in an X chromosome to become the Y chromosome" asbl.org states. theres also a variety of other unstudied unknown mutations present in their genes.

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As stated previosly, roly polys have a lot of adaptations, but why did they do them in the first place? We know that roly polys existed in the ocean before land, so what influenced them to adapt onto it? the answer is the same for many other ocean life creatures, space and enviroment. There was more space on land to move onto, meaning more food, and a better life for them. But that begs the question, why are their still some in the ocean? well, the ones at the bottom of the ocean are way bigger. Preasure played a big role in this. The further up a isopod is the smaller they evolved to thrive in that enviroment.

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"Their nocturnal behavior also helps them in this respect, as nighttime air also isn't as dry. In times of extremely arid weather, pill bugs also cope through huddling their bodies together. Doing this minimizes moisture loss via the skin" states Naomi Millburn

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Roly polys have an intresting way of reproducing, after eggs are fertalized, the females lay hundred of them and keep them in a yellow underpouch beneath their body inbetween their legs. After their developed (wich can take months) they stay for a few more days and crawl out. They typically stay underground until they are big enough and have a hard enough shell to venture and fend for themselfs.

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Roly-polys have adapted in many different ways to survive in their enviroments. Heres some traits that mondern day pill pugs have adapted:
-They can roll up, when their in a ball and sheilded, their defended from their predators (like praying mantisis)
-another adapted trait to defend themself is fast walking, and being nocturnal to avoid predators.
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Pill bugs have a very intresting inheritence, one of the biggest thing is their gills. Since they evolved from crustations in the sea, they have gills. When they evolved on land that peice of anatomy didnt change. This is why roly-polys need moisture in their enviroment to survive. They pull the oxygen out of the water to breath and survive, using their inherited gills.

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PBS NEWS states, "Their ancestors lived in the sea, but ancient pill bugs crawled out millions of years ago to carve a life for themselves on dry land"

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Variation: pill-bugs have a lot of genetic variation, as you can see from their exoscelecton they come in a variety of colors ranging from brown, to black, and even some species with bright multicolors. Isopods also range in plenty of sizes, but pill bugs specifically are typically 1/4-1/2in

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conterary to popular beleif, due to their evelolution from underwater isopods, Pill bugs are actually defined as crustations, not insects.

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conterary to popular beleif, due to their evelolution from underwater isopods, Pill bugs are actually defined as crustations, not insects.

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- The pill bug is a decomposer, that means it eats dead organic matter and breaks it up into nutrients creating rich enviroments
- They have gills that require mostuir, without it they cant breath and will die. They curl up in balls to prevent drying out
- their babys are the size of 2 grains of salt, they stay underneath their mothers stomach in a yellow pouch and come off when they are mature enough
-Pill bugs are nocternal and thrive in moist dark enviorments
with decaying matter like mulch and dead leaves

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"Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraka
Order: Isopoda
Family: Armadillidae
Genus: Armadillidium
Species: Armadillidium vulgare"
states uwlax.edu

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A roly-poly, a species of isopod, is a well known insect across the world. Its more scientific name is the armadillidium vulgare, but they can also be called pill bugs, though here in the us they are more commenly know as roly-polys. They are a type of crustation, with gills underneath them. They are closly related to lobsters, and shrimp.