Thursday, September 04, 2008

Great big ball of fun!

It's a bit early to have an "International Rock-Flipping Day" post, but this was just too cute to wait.

Lorelei gets credit for finding this utterly cool pill bug.
Call them sow bugs. Or rolly-pollies. Or lawn shrimps (who came up with that one?). The technical name for them is terrestrial isopod, which makes them sound more interesting (and makes them crustaceans!). I've seen their marine cousins at the Newport Aquarium...well, their really honking LARGE cousins:
An isopod to give a person nightmares
An isopod that is about 18 inches long. I thought I was hallucinating.

So, Lorelei showed me the "big pill bug!" that she found, and I have to say, it was the most interesting pill bug I ever saw:
Ball O pillbug
It wasn't a drab gray like the other ones we have around here. A very snappy, bright yellow pattern...and it was at least an inch long.

He unrolled his cute little self and realized he was on his back, and the legs started flailing...
macro big pillbug

I set the camera to "video" and we helped him on his way, with a High Five (for figuring out what he was) and a song:
(If you can't understand her, Lorelei is telling me that pill bugs "eat their own poop". Good Lord. What other tidbits is she storing in that adorable little noggin?)


5 comments:

Dave Dorsey said...

OMG, you had to use a stick to turn it over????

Anonymous said...

Cute! Your daughter sounded so cute when she said encyclopedia!

Treehugger said...

They are just such neat little creatures! We used to call them "roly-poly" bugs, when I was younger...a source of constant fascination for a little girl who was in love with all God's creatures! :)

Kathie Brown said...

That is the most adorable sounding little Einstein you've got there. Sounds like she'll be reading her own 'cyclodedia soon!

Julie Zickefoose said...

You could probably just post mp3's of Lorelei imparting nature lore, and call the blog Lorelei Speaks.
Adorable!!
Dang, I'd love to see a pillbug like that. Is it native to Ohio?