Bug card No. 2641 of 4,939

Little sea pill woodlouse

Cubaris murina

Eats: Leftovers and dead things WoodliceRainforests and jungles14 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

This little woodlouse can roll itself into a perfect ball when it is scared. Many people keep it as a pet in a glass box with plants. Pet ones come in fun colours like pale pink, almost white or orange.

Fun fact: woodlice are not insects. They are crustaceans, cousins of crabs and shrimps, that live on land.

Lives in

Warm places around the world: Caribbean islands, South America, Africa's islands, Southeast Asia and Hawaii

Length

1.1 cm (0.43 in)

Top speed

about 0.14 km/h (0.09 mph)

On foot, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It cannot bite or sting and is safe to look at.

What does it eat?

It eats dead leaves and other rotting bits. In a terrarium it works as a tiny clean-up crew.

Photo of Little sea pill woodlouse — Picture by Luizpuodzius. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

as long as 2 grains of rice in a rowit has about 14 legscould run across a dinner table in 26 seconds

How big is Little sea pill woodlouse compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)

Little sea pill woodlouse about 0.14 km/h (0.09 mph)

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Rolling into a ball has a special name: conglobation.

It grows up to about 11 millimetres long and 5 millimetres wide.

Pet keepers have colour types with names like Papaya, Glacier, Anemone and Florida Orange.

The Glacier type is almost all white, even its eyes, legs and feelers.

It may have travelled to America from Asia long ago.

you asked

Most asked questions about Little sea pill woodlouse

?Can you keep a little sea roly poly as a pet?

Yes. It is a popular pet and helps keep a terrarium clean by eating dead plant bits.

?Is the little sea pill woodlouse an insect?

No. It is a woodlouse, which is a crustacean, a cousin of crabs and shrimps. It has 14 legs.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Cubaris murina
Group: Woodlice
Family: Armadillidae
Classification: Malacostraca > Isopoda > Armadillidae
Lives on: North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania
Also known as: Little sea isopod, Little sea roly poly

Where the facts come from

Cubaris murina (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by Luizpuodzius. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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