Pillbugs and Sowbugs
Pillbugs and sowbugs are really crustaceans that have come from the water but live totally on land. Pillbugs roll up when disturbed and sowbugs have two taillike appendages and cannot roll up.
Pillbug (left), Pillbugs on leaf (right)-University of Missouri-Columbia
Description
They are grey, about 2cm long and have an armoured shell.
Sowbug (left), Sowbug (right)-J. kalisch
Lifecycle
There are one or two generations per year. The female carries her eggs in a pouch on her undersides for up to two months. when the young hatch they stay in the pouch for a while longer before they emerge. In the winter they become inactive and hide in dark moist places. They occasionally are active in places like greenhouses or your basement in the winter. They also can live up to 5 years.
Diet and Damage
You can find them feeding in abundance near or in your compost heap, around organic materials, rotted plants and fruit and generally moist rich organic soil. They are rarely a problem in your garden since their diet consists mostly of organic material, but they can cause major problems on your young seedlings and tender young roots. They will eat plants and roots and do most of this damage at night. They can also invade a moist dark basement. I know in the Pacific Northwest where climate is moist and cooler there is an overabundance of these guys and they can be pests. When I lived in the Pacific Northwest they were a nuisance in my strawberry patch as well as most of my ornamentals. I would gather them in pails and walk over to the graveyard and dump them there. the only place you really want these guys is in your compost if at all.
Control
1) Hand Pick
Collect them at night or when you see them in large masses and set them free somewhere else like the woods. If you want to kill them drop them in soapy water. You can even sweep them into a dust pan and dump them over the fence or somewhere else in your yard where there is ample organic material.
2) Make a Trap
Put rotted fruit under the plants they have been attacking and in the morning pick up the fruit with them on it and toss them far away.
3) Moisture Control
Try to minimize water usage and keep moist areas dryer. These guys tend to congregate in moist conditions.
July 8th, 2007 at 8:20 am
Hi,
I have a similar bug at my house with 2 apartments below mine. My tenants often complain of seeing something like centipedes or a sowbug. However, you describe them as being 2 cms. long, mine are not that big… more like 1/2 cm. hairy like.
I was told it is because I have a humid basement which I do, due to crushed drainage tiles that I’ve discovered at least in one area after digging.
Thanks for any help you might provide.
How to get rid of them? 2 years in a row, I’ve hired companies that spray the apartments but even though they promise to return if we don’t get rid of the bugs, they find a reason not to come back.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Maybe they are Silverfish? Either way the best way to get rid of them is to remedy the the problem that is providing the environment for them.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
hey from OZ
These creatures are definately up there with crocs in old age… lol. But I have found that laying pepper or curry powder around were you see them helps to deter them, Unfortunately, they are ground dwellers and they do reak havoc in the plants rooting system, especially the root vegetables.. So what I have done in preparation is that I have mixed pepper and curry powder into the ground where I plant my veges… not all but some, mostly tomatoes and potatoes.. and it seems to have helped… But they are still active around my garden… the next best thing I have found is that the luv containers, so I drown them… and that works…
hope this helps
wayne
January 6th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
ps.. In Australia, we call them butchy boys or slaters….
Wayne
March 9th, 2009 at 12:23 am
I have the same little sowbugs in my home and i just dont know how to get rid of these little critters there bugging me so that i just dont know what to do how can i get rid of these.
December 24th, 2010 at 1:15 am
i have transparent potatoe bug look alikes but they have more pider like legs