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Sowbugs and
Pillbugs
-- Woodlice, roly poly bugs, wood bugs --
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Summary:
Normally these small land crustaceans don't harm
anything in the garden. Occasionally high
numbers cause damage to tender seedlings but control is generally not needed.
Sowbugs/pillbugs sometimes enter homes
to escape saturated soil or in search of water when
it is dry. They cause no damage in homes and can be swept up and tossed back into the landscape.
Jack
DeAngelis, PhD
OSU
Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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Sowbugs,
pillbugs, woodlice identification
Sowbugs,
pillbugs, or woodlice [more pictures] are small land
crustaceans, more closely related to shrimp than insects.
They are roughly 1/4"
long, gray to brown in color, have many pairs of
legs and a segmented body, and are often found in
groups under rocks or debris where the soil is damp.
Pillbugs roll into a ball when disturbed, sowbugs do
not roll up this way but otherwise the two are very
similar. The term woodlice (singular woodlouse) is used to describe the group in general.
Sowbugs
and pillbugs normally don't harm garden plants. They
feed mostly on dead organic debris but occasionally
may damage young garden seedlings. Two situations
occur that do cause gardeners and homeowners some
concern however.
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Sowbugs
and pillbugs are found in moist
habitats under rocks and debris. Photo by E.
DeAngelis.
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Sometimes
tender young garden seedlings are damaged, the damage
is similar to slug damage. This plant damage
only occurs when very high populations of these
critters are allowed to develop and when very young
plants are present. Plant injury is pretty rare and
can usually be easily managed or outgrown if plants are otherwise healthy.
The
second way sowbugs and pillbugs cause problems is when
they enter homes following rains when outside soils
become saturated, or in search of water when it is
extremely dry. Sowbugs found indoors
won't cause any damage and can be simply swept up.
other
common names: woodlice (wood louse), lawn shrimp,
rollie-pollie (pillbug), rolly-polly, tumblebug,
doodlebug, roly poly bug
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Control (if needed)
In
one sense high numbers of these critters is really a
good thing-- it means that your garden soils are rich
in organic matter and healthy. You can reduce
the populations, however, by reducing the amount
of organic matter, such as compost, that you add to
the garden and by cutting back on the frequency of
watering. If the soil is allowed to go through
natural dry/wet cycle sowbug and pillbug numbers will
be reduced.
Gardeners
can use diatomaceous earth (see Using
Diatomaceous Earth for Pest Control) to manage
sowbug and pillbug damage to young seedlings. Place a
thin layer of this natural product directly over the
seed bed. There is also a new formulation of Sluggo slug
bait that contains spinosad, a natural
insecticide that can be used to safely manage earwigs
and sowbugs/pillbugs in the garden (see Using
Slug Baits).
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