Tag Archives: roly poly

Doing a bit of housecleaning, I discovered a dead link at one of our earliest postings concerning the origin of the rancho’s name of Roly Poly. Therein was linked a wonderful drawing of the humble terrestrial crustacean which the artist apparently has removed from the Web. So I thought to find a new link and discovered a few interesting facts about the roly poly (perhaps best known by its unromantic name of pillbug), including that they breathe through modified gills, come in a bewildering two hundred species, and not only look like miniature armadillos, but their scientific name actually recalls the armadillo: Armadillidium vulgare. Though I see nothing exactly vulgar about them, unless you tend to the squeamish. Otherwise, a perfectly Texan critter.