We have babies!

 

Our Sow Bugs had Babies!! I prepared another jar, since each year many of them die when they are very small. I read that they sometimes get eaten because they are so soft. As soon as I see a bunch of them on one (easy to grab) leaf, I'm going to move them to the other jar to attempt to keep more of them alive. Maybe I'll give that new jar to another homeschool family. I can post on our local group and see if anyone would like to watch them grow.

Okay... I feel that I need to explain how we keep track of which is which. I am no scientist but we use our names to keep track of the two types of crustaceans in our jar. I've had many talks with others about the proper names for each and have even discussed if they are the same or different. From our three years of bringing these animals into our home and observing them, we know for a fact that we usually have two kinds. One which is usually called Pill Bug, Potato Bug, or Rolly Poly Bug is usually darker in colour and very obviously, rolls up into a little ball to protect itself. The other type looks similar to that bug but is lighter in colour and doesn't roll up into a ball. We have read in books that the later one is referred to a Sow Bug. The babies look like the Sow Bug to me. We usually don't see the mother much or she moves slow for a while because she keeps them in a pouch on her tummy to protect them until they are too big for her to carry. They then start to crawl around on their own. They are very small but look like their parents and usually are a bit lighter in colour and softer. This is when they are still vulnerable and can be eaten. They grow fast and in a few weeks we'll be able to see them better because they will be larger.

“Curiosity is the one thing invincible in Nature.” ~ unknown