Swedish: Gråsugga = gray sow.
It’s because they roll up into a cute little ball and it tickles us in a way nothing else does
Probably the cutest insect, and they do us no harm. Unshocking they have a collection of amusing names.
Ladybugs are even cuter, but do not fare as well.
This would have made the Spanish version of A Bugs Life interesting.
… on consideration, it is the same joke.
Apparently, they’re not actually insects, but rather crustaceans.
Crustaceans are basically ocean insects, fite me
not basically at all, they just are
That’s actually not shocking either! Nice, thanks for the info :)
Nice-o-pod
They’re good lil guys
What’s with all these weird names for a pill bug.
This is the first time I’ve heard anyone call them anything other than a woodlouse
You must be referring to the Woodlouse Hunter which hunts… *checks notes …Granny Grunters.
I only ever called them woodlouses when I learned that name as a teenager because everyone here always called them “roly-polies” or “potato bugs.”
Roly polies does sound adorable, I’ll give you that
Do you mean the bean bug?
No, I mean a sow bug.
It’s called a roly-poly and I will tolerate no disagreement, good day to you
They roly and they poly. No better names exist.
I would’ve been with you until I saw Grumper Pig.
nuh-uh
Ye-ah
Roly-poly is correct, but I’ll also accept potato bug.
Potato bugs are Jerusalem crickets no?
No no Jerusalem crickets are Wavypills
Re: your username: Is a Replicant Batty Coda just a normal Batty Coda? He’s already a cyborg with crappy/ intermittent reception.
I had to look that up lol, I’ve never seen Fern Gully. The username is a reference to Roy Batty, the character from Blade Runner.
Ahh, gotcha. It’s a good movie. Kinda sad looking back. They played it in schools in the '90s and drilled the message in that we were already doing clear cutting of forests without “The Leveler.” This was back when they “cared about global warming, and we will have to do something about it soon.” Rather than just claiming it doesn’t exist.
Robin Williams played Batty Coda, so I remember the character fondly.
I’ll accept carpet shrimp.
aww
Norwegian, a loved one goes by many names…
Melkedyr: Milk bugs
Benkebitere: Bench biters
Kaffetroll: Coffee trolls
Munkebiller: Monk beetles
Kaffelus: Coffee lice
Munkelus: Monk lice
Moldokser: Mold oxen
Kaffedyr: Coffee bugs
Tusselus: Goblin lice
Paddelus: Toad lice
Potetroll: Potato trolls
Mold oxen
Because of the antennae! That’s adorable.
note to self: don’t buy coffee in Norway
Forbidden boba
It’s a Roly Poly btw.
I was 30+ before I knew not everyone called them slaters
This is a weird question but everyone else could smell these, right? Like a weird bitter, musty smell. That post about people smelling ants a while back made me wonder what other bugs not all people smell.
Doesn’t ring a bell. Earwigs have a distinct smell, though.
Yeah they smell like stinky wood/almonds to me.
stinky wood/almonds
Isn’t almonds also the scent reported by those genetically-equipped to smell cyanide?
Not me! Do you smell ants? I think it’s a genetic trait.
I’ve never noticed an ant smell, if I had to guess I’d assume it’s some different chemical I’m picking up on from the pill bugs.
I think so! I love them but I haven’t smelled them. What’s your stance on cilantro? I love genetic smell/taste traits.
I’m a soap-taster, unfortunately, but it smells really good to me! I just wish it tasted like it smelled
I don’t think it is, but I wonder if it’s related?! Neat!
I wish it tasted to you like it does to me :c I LOVE cilantro!
Certain ants are pretty distinct. Thatch ants spray formic acid as a defense, and will have a sour smell (and taste, or so I’ve been told). Odoriferous house ants are named so for obvious reason, and smell (to me) like pen ink. Assuming they taste terrible, but I dunno anyone who’s tasted one.
Also, for what it’s worth, my entomologist father refers to the thread’s subject as “sow bugs”, so that’s how I know them, but pill bugs and rolly polly are common here.
That’s very interesting. I can’t smell ants at all and [threads subject] smell like dirt to me (I assume because they live in dirt)
Thanks for explaining!
They excrete ammonia through their exoskeleton because they don’t actually pee! I’ve only noticed a smell from them when they’re in large groups. They may be a bit smelly, and a lot of people mislabel them as insects, but they’re actually terrestrial isopods and are related to crabs and shrimps!
Welp, that explains why the Netherlands calls these bugs “bedpissers”
I call them isopods but that’s only because I started keeping them as pets Rn I have some dairy cow isopods
Man, what the fuck did the roly polys do the the Netherlands?!
i think they might have pissed in some beds
https://thimsternisse.com/healing-magic/
Apparently they fed them to kids as a cure for wetting the bed.
Yeah fair, I’d have a bit of anger too if I’d been force-fed woodlice as a child.
They piss in our beds! grrr
“I swear, it was these bugs!”
Pissebed
hey Smooth Randy
I mean I have a pair of aquatic sowbugs I’ve been keeping in an empty yogurt cup. They look like regular sowbugs but they’re underwater, hence aquatic sowbug.
