this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Man, what the fuck did the roly polys do the the Netherlands?!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They piss in our beds! grrr

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

https://thimsternisse.com/healing-magic/

Apparently they fed them to kids as a cure for wetting the bed.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah fair, I'd have a bit of anger too if I'd been force-fed woodlice as a child.

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

What's with all these weird names for a pill bug.

[–] [email protected] 77 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

It's called a roly-poly and I will tolerate no disagreement, good day to you

[–] [email protected] 39 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They roly and they poly. No better names exist.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago

I would've been with you until I saw Grumper Pig.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'll accept carpet shrimp.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Re: your username: Is a Replicant Batty Coda just a normal Batty Coda? He's already a cyborg with crappy/ intermittent reception.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

This is the first time I've heard anyone call them anything other than a woodlouse

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago

You must be referring to the Woodlouse Hunter which hunts... *checks notes ...Granny Grunters.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I only ever called them woodlouses when I learned that name as a teenager because everyone here always called them "roly-polies" or "potato bugs."

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 31 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Their family name is Armadillidae (arm-a-dill-a-dee) which also just sounds silly

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 weeks ago

Aww, tiny armadillos!

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 weeks ago

Armadillidae

Not to be confused with Armadillidiidae.

🙃

[–] TheEEEdiot 28 points 2 weeks ago

It's a Roly Poly btw.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Probably the cutest insect, and they do us no harm. Unshocking they have a collection of amusing names.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Apparently, they're not actually insects, but rather crustaceans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlouse

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Crustaceans are basically ocean insects, fite me

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

That's actually not shocking either! Nice, thanks for the info :)

[–] mindbleach 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

This would have made the Spanish version of A Bugs Life interesting.

[–] mindbleach 3 points 2 weeks ago

... on consideration, it is the same joke.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 weeks ago

It's because they roll up into a cute little ball and it tickles us in a way nothing else does

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Norwegian, a loved one goes by many names..

Melkedyr: Milk bugs

Benkebitere: Bench biters

Kaffetroll: Coffee trolls

Munkebiller: Monk beetles

Kaffelus: Coffee lice

Munkelus: Monk lice

Moldokser: Mold oxen

Kaffedyr: Coffee bugs

Tusselus: Goblin lice

Paddelus: Toad lice

Potetroll: Potato trolls

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago

note to self: don't buy coffee in Norway

[–] mindbleach 3 points 2 weeks ago

Mold oxen

Because of the antennae! That's adorable.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

This is a weird question but everyone else could smell these, right? Like a weird bitter, musty smell. That post about people smelling ants a while back made me wonder what other bugs not all people smell.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They excrete ammonia through their exoskeleton because they don't actually pee! I've only noticed a smell from them when they're in large groups. They may be a bit smelly, and a lot of people mislabel them as insects, but they're actually terrestrial isopods and are related to crabs and shrimps!

[–] zalgotext 6 points 2 weeks ago

Welp, that explains why the Netherlands calls these bugs "bedpissers"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah they smell like stinky wood/almonds to me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

stinky wood/almonds

Isn't almonds also the scent reported by those genetically-equipped to smell cyanide?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Not me! Do you smell ants? I think it’s a genetic trait.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Certain ants are pretty distinct. Thatch ants spray formic acid as a defense, and will have a sour smell (and taste, or so I've been told). Odoriferous house ants are named so for obvious reason, and smell (to me) like pen ink. Assuming they taste terrible, but I dunno anyone who's tasted one.

Also, for what it's worth, my entomologist father refers to the thread's subject as "sow bugs", so that's how I know them, but pill bugs and rolly polly are common here.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I’ve never noticed an ant smell, if I had to guess I’d assume it’s some different chemical I’m picking up on from the pill bugs.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I think so! I love them but I haven’t smelled them. What’s your stance on cilantro? I love genetic smell/taste traits.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I’m a soap-taster, unfortunately, but it smells really good to me! I just wish it tasted like it smelled

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Doesn't ring a bell. Earwigs have a distinct smell, though.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

They’re good lil guys

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Me in Australia: Now that's a real Butchy boy.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

Forbidden boba

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I was taught they were called pill bugs. Although I knew them as also roly polys. My mother called them pill bugs, the other kids called them roly polys.

She told me it was an east coast versus west coast name and clearly is more "every group of people had decided they wanted to name this thing themselves" XD

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I mean I have a pair of aquatic sowbugs I've been keeping in an empty yogurt cup. They look like regular sowbugs but they're underwater, hence aquatic sowbug.

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