Random biology this week, since I feel like we haven’t done that in a while. Today, we’re talking about this critter:
In most of Australia, we call them Slater beetles or Slater bugs, but they have a whole host of names around the world – often riffing on the ‘bug’ theme.
HOWEVER. I just discovered this week, that they are NOT, in fact, bugs: they are crustaceans. They have seven pairs of legs, they carry their eggs around in a pouch, and they don’t pee – they exchange gases with the atmosphere through gill-like structures o.O
Also apparently they’re A++ at safely removing heavy metals from soils, like, whoa. I want a sci fi story with dog-sized woodlouse-slater-pill bug-rollie pollie-things that are being used by an environmental corp to purify land or something. *adds it to list of things to write one day*.
So. That’s your Friday Random for the week. What random things have you found on the internet this week? 🙂