Is a ''pill bug'' just a ''sow bug''?

[Albert_136]

Is a ''pill bug'' same as ''sow bug''?
Or are they different critters?
Or do the names overlap?
Or....?

[jeff84]

yes they are both common names for the same critter. there are basically 2 different varieties. those who curl up into perfect little spheres and those who really don't although you can make them, but they wont do it on their own. neither are harmful to plants

[imafan26]

On the side their relatives are shrimp.

[Gary350]

Ball Bug, it turns into a ball if you touch it.

[SQWIB]

Yeah they get big too, just pulled this guy off of one of my tomato plants yesterday.

[MockY]

Yeah they get big too, just pulled this guy off of one of my tomato plants yesterday.

What are you feeding your tomatoes in order for them to be large enough to host that critter?

[Vanisle_BC]

Mocky, tell us - what IS that thing? If the photo is fake I see no evidence - it's extremely well done. Maybe it's a big plastic model of a pillbug/sowbug/woodbug or - in the Scotland of my youth - a slater.

[thanrose]

Bet it's a sea dwelling relative, from the Pacific Ocean's northwest coast. Nothing at all unusual about it, other than the depth at which they live.

[pepperhead212]

Pillbugs are isopods, and there are some very large ones out there, but not in our gardens.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_isopod

[imafan26]

A prehistoric remnant?

[applestar]

OK I HAD to “dig/dish this up”

Kuzco and Pacha eating Pill Bugs