potato bug
Soil-dwelling crustacean
Potato bug is a common name applied to different insects depending on region.
In the eastern United States, it typically refers to the Colorado potato beetle, a striped pest that devastates potato crops.
In the western United States, potato bug usually means the Jerusalem cricket, a large, nocturnal, wingless insect with a bulbous head that lives in soil and is not actually a cricket despite the name.
Both creatures are found around potato plants or garden soil, which likely explains the shared common name.
Land crustacean, rolls defensively
- woodlouseTerrestrial isopod, gray-armored
- sowbugTerrestrial isopod
- roly-polyPlump and round
- crustaceanAquatic arthropod with exoskeleton
detritivore · segmented · exoskeleton · antenna · terrestrial · invertebrate · curl · ball
Harmful creature or nag
- larvaeImmature metamorphosing creatures
- infestationPest takeover situation
- crop damageHarm to cultivated plants
- tuberUnderground nutrient reservoir
foliage · nightshade · burrowing · striped · mandibles · agricultural · pesticide · elytra
pillbug
Land crustacean, rolls defensively
crustacean · detritivore · segmented · exoskeleton · antenna · terrestrial · invertebrate · curl · ball · moisture
pest
Harmful creature or nag
- larvaeImmature metamorphosing creatures
- infestationPest takeover situation
- crop damageHarm to cultivated plants
tuber · foliage · nightshade · burrowing · striped · mandibles · agricultural · pesticide · elytra · garden pest
- isopodsisopod, pillbug, woodlouse, roly poly, roly-poly
- bugsbeetle, cricket, firefly, cockroach, ladybug
- bug nicknamescritter, creepy crawly, crawler, pest, biter
- Orthopteranskatydid, cricket, grasshopper, weta, locust
- pill bugsroly-poly
- Soil Lifeearthworm, earthworms, nightcrawler, nematodes, soil bacteria
potato bugbeneficial insect
Arthropod aiding agriculture
pollinator · ladybug · honeybee · earthworm · praying mantis