Isopoda - Pill Bugs and Sow Bugs

There are over 11,000 species in this order. Isopods are found on land and in fresh and salt water environments!

Like all crustaceans, they have three segments to their bodies: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. They have an exoskeleton that they shed as they grow, one pair of antennae, seven segments on their thorax, and seven pairs of legs.

The word isopod is from the Greek iso which means "alike or similar" and pod meaning "foot." Unlike some species of crustaceans, isopod legs are all alike.

Isopods have gills, and species that live on land have to stay moist or they will die. Land isopods are often found under rotting logs or leaf litter. Some species, like pill bugs, roll up into a tight ball when they are threatened. In fact, some people call them roly-polies.