Why are pill bugs and sow bugs important to nature?
Sowbugs, pillbugs, & the millipede pillbug are all decomposers. They eat dead and decaying material so they are very important in keeping the leaf litter and other fallen debris from accumulating so they are also called detritovores from eating detritus. Pillbugs are not insects. They are land dwelling crustaceans in the order Isopoda. They breath with gills so must live in damp locations like compost piles or under rotting logs to live. This way they hide under their dinner. The common species The Pill Bug (Armadillidium spp) is a dull blue-grey and has only seven pairs of legs. http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th11c(1).… The Sowbug (Porcellio spp) can’t fully roll into a ball, it only manages a close u-shape and it has a pair of tail-like structures on the back end of the body. http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th11c(2).… The millipede pillbug (
