Did you know rolly pollies could be white? I've seen plenty of grey ones and even some that were grey with yellow spots but never white. Well, never until now. I don't know how rare these are but check out these crazy pics.
This little guy (or gal) was the same size as a full grown rolly polly. You could see just a little color from it's internal organs and the black of it's eyes.
Some sources say they are white after molting. However arthropods apparently don't normally molt all at once and this little guy was completely white. From the tip of it's antenna to the end of ever tiny leg and it's entire underbelly as well.
Things you might not know about rolly pollies:
They are also called pill bugs, wood sow, wood louse
They are not insects
They are arthropods
More specifically they are crustaceans
They are more closely related to lobsters than any insect
They can live 2 to 3 yrs
They carry their eggs in a pouch like a kangaroo and lay around 100 eggs at a time
They have 7 pairs of legs for a total of 14
Ok so there are some random facts for you about roll pollies. Do you have any rolly polly facts I left out? Do you know how rare my all white rolly polly is? I'd love to know more. Especially with all the unusually colored crustaceans turning up elsewhere it would be interesting to find out if my "pill bug" is another abnormality or just a natural part of it's life cycle.
As far as games go when using this for a lesson plan. I suggest just letting the kids loose in the yard with jars and let them catch all they can. Who didn't love doing that as a kid? You could do a snack to go with it of "ants on a log" and just call it rolly pollies on a log. I think raisins look more like rollie pollies than ants anyway.
17 comments:
I think they must be rare. Im 60 years old and didn't know they also came in white until I saw one this morning. Thats what led me here. I've been an out doors person and never knew white ones existed. They are pretty cool I think.
I think you're right. This was the first and only time we had ever seen one and my kids play with them all the time. Maybe it's a blessing.
I just found a white one for the first time too. That is also what brought me to this page. I've never seen one before. The one I found was dead and I initially thought maybe it had been painted. Although I haven't been paining. But it wasn't. So I wanted to see how rare they were. Seems like there are a lot of white animals (albino) and bugs turning up these days. Weird.
I found 7 white ones today! I had never seen a white one before-and I've been a roly poly enthusiast since I was 4! I'm assuming they must also have the genes to produce albinos. I have seen very light colored ones in yellow and red tones, but these guys definitely did not have any of the color pigmentation except, like mentioned above, for the eye spots and internal organs(probably digestive matter if I were to take a guess). I did find them all within about 12ft under different logs from each other. It completely mystified me, and I'm so glad that others have seen them too! I really am curious how rare they are though? There isn't much of nothing to be be found except this post, but I'll take it and appreciate the fact that I got to see something brand new(to me)!
Wow! You found 7? That is incredible. Maybe you should go buy a lottery ticket, lol. I made this post seven years ago and it seems to be the only thing anyone can find when they search for white rolly pollies. I think that's a pretty good indication that they are very rare indeed.
Me also just found my first white one. Also the reason I'm here.
Found one hiking with my son today! There is no info on Google, but I found this page too! I was trying to see if it was rare. Or maybe a symbol of some kind? Looks like we are the blessed ones! 🤍
Aww, absolutely. I love that you looked it up to see if it was a sign of something. A blessing is a great way to look at it.
I found a small vase of mine filled with thousands of white rolly pollies! I feed them to my fish and I have no idea if they are rare or not.
Wow! Really? They do indeed seem to be pretty rare. I've had this post up for several years and it seems to be the only mention of them people can find online. You can look above to get an idea of how often people are encountering them. If all of the ones in your vase are white I would think one of two things. Either they had a genetic mutation that occurred and through inbreeding due to such a small habitat they have passed that trait along throughout the population. Or possibly they are ill. Sometimes dead rolly pollies lose their color. It's possible if they are very sick and on the verge of death they may have lost their color.
I would love to know more about your rolly pollies. If you have the ability to make a video, I would welcome a link to it being posted here.
So my friend found one and thought that it wasn't rare so we were playing and just threw it because we were looking for European ground beetles so it sucks that it's rare because he collects bugs and pins them
I don’t think they’re rare - probably just more awareness because of the color. I have hundreds of them in my yard and garden.
You have hundreds of white ones in your yard? If so I wonder if there is either a very dominant trait being passed around in your garden among them. Or your yard is lacking some sort of nutrient that they use to produce melanin. There is also the possibility that you found a large amount of unhealthy rolly pollys that were knocking on deaths door. It is also possible for them to turn white when they are dead or dying. There is definitely a different look to a healthy white one and one that has turned white due to health though.
I can assure you that in most areas where rolly pollys are prevalent, it is rare to find a white one. Over the 9 years that this blog post has been up I have received a handful of comments from people who have found them. They all immediately went online to find out more about them and this is the only relevant page that comes up in their searches. If white pill bugs were common there would be some more information online to help quell people's curiosity.
If your garden really is full of a healthy population of white rolly polly then you should consider documenting it and putting them on youtube. You are more than welcome to post a link to said video here. You'll be one of the only online sources regarding their existence and you might even find someone who would like to purchase a few specimens for research.
Guess I'm here for the same reason as everyone else. Found a group of white ones in central Texas
Very cool! Welcome to the strange rolly polly club. I made this post a while back and it seems like over the years people are finding more and more of them. Or at least they are finding them in larger and larger groups. It's very interesting.
Southern California here. My search led me to this page. My 3 year old is really into catching them. We have hundreds of them in our yard. Tiny to fully grown. Anyone know why they are clear/white? We have the normal black and gray ones too.
I found a dead one all rolled up.
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