“I am absolutely affronted, affronted in public by your behavior.”

by chuckofish

My mother wrote about the pretty day lilies yesterday. And today, I continue the nature talk. This morning while walking to work, I happened to observe two little roly polies (sp?) crossing the sidewalk. I hadn’t seen one in ages (probably since it was fun to pick them up and get them to turn into a ball). The little bugs got me thinking and wondering what they contribute to the ecosystem.

So, I did a little internet research (ie totally legit) and guess what? They aren’t even bugs! They are crustaceans that live on land (the only ones). They breathe through gills (!) and must remain in a moist area, although they can’t be submerged in water. I’m not even joking. As for their contribution, they are decomposers, so very important.

According to Wikipedia, “They are capable of taking in heavy metals such as copper, zinc, lead and cadmium and crystallize these into spherical deposits in the midgut.[7] In this way, they temporarily remove many of the toxic metal ions from the soil, although the toxic metals are returned to the soil when they die. They also provide a food source for birds, toads, spiders, wasps, and centipedes.[6]“ Fascinating and weird stuff.

Now you know.

Speaking of bugs, as we may have mentioned, we’re planning a soiree to celebrate a certain someone’s retirement this summer and it occurred to me that zut alors! I hope the cicadas terrorizing the East Coast and occupying all pre-Zoom meeting smalltalk don’t descend on our outdoor plans! But good news, per the Missouri Department of Conservation, we don’t have to worry about them in Missouri for a few more years.

Anyway, in other animal news, we have all been laughing over this video of a mama bear and her naughty bear cubs stopping traffic somewhere. I could watch this all day. And the Scottish accent just cracks me up. STEVEN!

The world is more than we know.