Wood lice and Sowbugs in Colorado

Sowbugs and Wood lice are common names for these Terrestrial Crustacians. They are not insects, and are more closely related to shrimp than to insects. According to Wikipedia, some of them, in the genus Armadillidium can roll up into an almost perfect sphere as a defensive mechanism, hence these have common names such as Pillbug and Roly-Poly.

The one pictured is in the genus Armadillidium, since they can roll up into a ball. They have seven pair of legs.

The next two pictures were taken at the Fountain Creek Nature Center, Just south of Colorado Springs, on 16 July 2008.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Isopoda
Suborder: Oniscidea
Genus: Armadillidium
Species: A. vulgare (probably)

Defensive mechanism caused by me kicking some dirt in his direction.

Some more Sowbugs, of various sizes, found on the bottom side of a board that had been laying on the ground in Colorado Springs, CO on 13 November 2008.