If you turn over a brick or a board that has been sitting in the yard for some time, you might discover a number of pill bugs crawling around underneath. These grey-colored animals, sometimes referred to as "rollie pollies" or woodlice, are found in a variety of damp, dark areas where they feed on decomposing matter. These creatures are fascinating because they are not at all like bugs. They are not insects, but rather crustaceans that resemble crabs and shrimp more. Their characteristic of curling into a ball when they sense danger is what makes them unique. Their quadrupedal limb arrangement is another distinctive characteristic. . They also act like kangaroos, toting their eggs around with them in a special pouch called a marsupium, located on the pillbug’s underside. Even stranger, they don’t urinate. Instead, they exchange gases through gill-like structures.
Pill bugs great for gardening, composting
Breeding or collecting pill bugs may be an important practice for homesteading and gardening. The guts of these pill bugs contain a number of microbes that help the critter feed on dead, organic matter. By releasing mass quantities of pill bugs into a mature garden, one can be assured that dead plant matter is being properly broken down and returned to healthy soil. Pill bugs literally speed up the process of decomposition. They circulate the soil. This can be very useful in composting. Treats for pill bugs include fungus and monocotyledonous leaves.Pillbugs play an important role in the cycle of healthy plant life. They return organic matter to the soil so it can be digested further by fungi, protozoans and bacteria. This process produces a natural supply of nitrates, phosphates and other vital nutrients that plants need to thrive now and in future growing seasons. It is important not to introduce pill bugs into the garden too early, as they tend to munch on emerging plants. The grey soil workers often live up to three years.
Pill bugs clean up soil and protect ground water from heavy metal contamination
One very unique quality that these crustaceans possess is their ability to safely remove heavy metals from soil. For this reason, they are an important tool for cleaning up soil contaminated with pollutants like lead, cadmium and arsenic. In coal spoils and slag heaps, pill bugs come in handy. They take in heavy metals like lead and cadmium and crystallize these ions in their guts. The heavy metal toxins are then made into spherical deposits in the mid gut. With this special cleanup property, pill bugs survive where most creatures can’t, in the most contaminated sites.The magic of the pill bugs helps reestablish healthy soil and prevents toxic metal ions from leaching into the groundwater. This means pill bugs are also protecting well water from becoming contaminated while stabilizing soils.
Original article: Real Farmacy
Sources:
http://eol.org
http://www3.northern.edu
http://insects.about.com