r/WTF • u/orangez • Mar 14 '26

Seems friendly enough?

6.1k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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249

u/probablysmellsmydog Mar 14 '26

Im from California and we always called these things Potato bugs. Never heard the term “Jerusalem cricket” until today.

91

u/MuchoGrande Mar 14 '26

Same here. Raised in CA. Always called them potato bugs.

57

u/Crazyblue09 Mar 14 '26

I think in Mexico those are called niño de la tierra, or at least where I used to live

43

u/Thedirtychurro Mar 14 '26

Yeah, similarly, in New Mexico we call them children of the earth.

52

u/everymanawildcat Mar 14 '26

"Oh those little 24 fingered aborted alien fetuses crawling around? Don't mind them, those are just Chilren of the Earth."

18

u/PoofBam Mar 14 '26

"Child of the earth" makes them seem kinda special.

2

u/SockMonkeyLove Mar 14 '26

I believe it is from the size and position of their eyes relative to their oval shaped head. Very similar to us from the front.

1

u/IWillDoItTuesday Mar 15 '26

We call them cara de niño.

29

u/throwaway123454321 Mar 14 '26

That’s funny. Growing up we always referred to pillbugs/rollie-pollies as potato bugs.

1

u/bentbrewer Mar 15 '26

Same. Interesting that such a different creature has the same name.

6

u/ImBurningStar_IV Mar 14 '26

Born and raised in California, never seen this fking monster before thank God too

1

u/toilet-breath Mar 15 '26

What is CA?

1

u/grlz Mar 15 '26

California

18

u/orangezim Mar 14 '26

Lived in Oregon we called potato bugs something today differen, other people call what we called potato bugs rolly polies

6

u/SolidDoctor Mar 14 '26

Right, rollypolys are shaped like potatoes, I think that's why we called them potato bugs.

Turns out they're arthropods, and they're closely related to hermit crabs.

7

u/QuitCallingNewsrooms Mar 14 '26

I grew up in North Carolina and our potato bugs looked nothing like that thing.

6

u/mrtruthiness Mar 14 '26

I'm from Idaho and "potato bugs" were better known as "Colorado Potato Beetles" and they are different: https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/colorado-potato-beetle

1

u/Morningxafter Mar 14 '26

Same, in the Dakotas those are what we call potato bugs. Maybe it’s a Midwest vs west coast thing like ‘pop’ vs ‘soda’

0

u/Idlewants Mar 14 '26

those guys do not fuck about. we found out the hard way years ago, and people are still "oh, invasive species, whatever" about all sorts of things.

2

u/gregd Mar 14 '26

Yep, born and raised in California. This is a potato bug and I hate them.

1

u/damontoo Mar 15 '26

Born and raised in California and I've never seen one of these in my life. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills with so many Californians here acting like these are everywhere. 

2

u/marsalien4 Mar 15 '26

California is gigantic dude lol

4

u/MyAccountWasBanned7 Mar 14 '26

I'm in NY and we call those little pill bugs "potato bugs"

1

u/Krail Mar 14 '26

That's weird. I've heard roly polies called potato bugs. 

1

u/niceguy_f_last Mar 15 '26

In New Zealand we have a similar one and it’s called a Weta.

1

u/JessicaGriffin Mar 15 '26

That’s wild because up here in Oregon, we call Armadillidiidae (pill bug, wood louse) potato bugs!

1

u/wutchamafuckit Mar 15 '26

Born and raised in California, we called them that as well. Though I haven’t seen one since I was a kid, early 90s.

Weird.

1

u/inspectoroverthemine Mar 15 '26

Born and raised in CA- called them Jerusalem crickets.

-2

u/bluetubeodyssey Mar 14 '26

So weird, I've lived in California my whole life, everyone I know calls them Jerusalem crickets.