Sowbugs & Pillbugs – Raid® Bug Basics (2024)

FAQs

Sowbugs & Pillbugs – Raid® Bug Basics? ›

Trap and Kill

You can try collecting pillbugs when they are clustered under deliberately placed objects that serve as hiding places. During the day, overturn the object and whisk up the sowbugs and dump them into a container of soapy water. Try putting boards or large stones on damp ground around the garden.

Trap and Kill

You can try collecting pillbugs when they are clustered under deliberately placed objects that serve as hiding places. During the day, overturn the object and whisk up the sowbugs and dump them into a container of soapy water. Try putting boards or large stones on damp ground around the garden.

When disturbed, pillbugs commonly curl into a ball resembling a pill, hence their common name. Sowbugs cannot roll into a ball and commonly scurry away when disturbed. Pillbugs have a smooth rounded rear end. In comparison, sowbugs have distinct appendages protruding from their rear.

The pillbug's main habitat is under mulch, fallen leaves, and rocks. Pillbugs are nocturnal and require humid conditions during the day. Pillbugs are generally found in soil with sowbugs, millipedes, and earthworms. Their preferred soil habitat is composed of organic matter and has a neutral to alkaline pH.

Sprinkling diatomaceous earth around plants creates a barrier that deters pill bugs, while using citrus peels or coffee grounds can also help repel these pests naturally.

Pill bugs, like many insects, don't love essential oils. This includes rosemary, oregano, citronella, citrus, cinnamon, tea tree, and peppermint. Spray essential oils mixed with water in roly-poly hot spots—but keep it away from children and pets.

Amdro Quick Kill Outdoor Insect Killer, available in concentrate and ready-to-spray formulas, works in minutes to kill pillbugs by contact and keeps killing these pests for up to three months. Use it on lawns, trees, shrubs and flower gardens. You can also treat your home's foundation up to a height of 3 feet.

Seeing a pill bug in the home usually means that there is a large population outdoors. Pill bugs do not survive more than a few days indoors without moist conditions and a food supply. The key to getting rid of pill bugs is to eliminate the moist sites that make their survival possible.

Answer and Explanation: The pill bugs are crustaceans that choose a moist environment for their survival as they need water to breathe through their gills. Also, when cornstarch is added to the Petri dish, the pill bug aggregates near the cornstarch as it forms the food source for the bug.

Why do I have so many sow bugs? ›

Sowbugs and pillbugs frequent areas with lots of moisture, such as under trash, rocks, boards, decay, or just beneath the soil surface. Mulches, grass clippings, and leaf litter often provide the decaying organic matter that these bugs love to hide in and eat.

Pesticide sprays, granules and baits can help control pillbugs outdoors. Permethrin insecticide is more effective than acephate (Orthene) or carbaryl (Sevin) sprays. Other pyrethroid insecticides, such as cyfluthrin, esfenvalerate or lambda-cyhalothrin should also provide control.

How serious are sowbugs? Besides living in the soil of houseplants, these pests cause little damage and do not cause harm indoors. In general, sowbugs are simply a nuisance, as they do not bite or sting and are harmless to humans. Their presence inside usually indicates a large population outside.

Males may reach 5mm more in length than females and their uropods can be as much as four times in length than a fully grown female. Males are also comparatively thinner (which contributes to their longer body length) and the females are wider, probably to accommodate for the brood pouch and producing manca.

In small numbers, pill bugs are beneficial for your soil. But when their population in your garden skyrockets, that's a bad sign. Pill bugs can damage the roots of plants when feeding and then move into your garage, basem*nt, or cellar from there.

Pillbugs are eaten by birds, centipedes, spiders, ants, amphibians, and most other animals that eat invertebrates (animals without a spine or backbone).

Diatomaceous earth is a safe way to desiccate or dry out pill bugs, therefore killing them. Spread diatomaceous earth along the edges of your planting beds where pill bugs like to live.

The presence of these pests in the house usually points to an outdoor infestation, as large populations may move indoors looking for alternative food and shelter. Yards with excessive moisture and debris often harbor pill bugs. Heavy rainfall during spring and early summer can also drive them inside.

Leaves, grass clippings, heavy accumulations of mulch, boards, stones, boxes, and similar items laying on the ground beside the foundation should be removed, since these often attract and harbor sowbugs.

Moisture: Pillbugs thrive in damp environments. If there are areas around your home with excess moisture, such as leaky pipes, damp basem*nts, or areas with poor drainage, it can attract pillbugs. Decaying Organic Matter: Pillbugs feed on decaying plant material.