Even though most people think of roly polies as bugs they are actually part of the crustacean family and are more closely related to shrimp and crayfish than the other real garden bugs. The garlic solution on your garden floor will also mean climbing off the tree isn t just where it stops it also means the pests have to leave your garden as a whole.
Pill Bugs Are Roly Poly Bugs A Problem In The Garden
If there are any pill bugs on your trees they will disperse as you spray on them.
Roly poly bugs in the garden. Roly poly bugs are omnivores that emerge from their burrows at night to seek food on the surface. We have numerous pill bugs in our beds but i ve seen a few sow bugs wandering around amongst the pill bugs. Use mulches that are coarse enough to let water pass through easily so the surface next to plants will not remain damp for long.
Like marsupials and our common garden friend the opossum the roly poly mother carries her young in a pouch called a marsupium on her belly. However if present in large numbers they have been known to feed on seedlings new roots lower leaves and fruits or vegetables laying directly on the soil. Pillbugs are similar to sowbugs another crustacean in the garden but unlike sowbugs they can roll their bodies into a tight ball when threatened earning them the nickname roly poly life cycle.
You will most often find them hiding under logs leaf piles stepping stones landscape timbers rocks trash cans garden debris flower pots mulch compost or other dark damp areas. Visit your garden and spray the garlic solution across each plant and the garden floor. Roly poly bugs bodies do not hold water which is why they need a moist environment.
After all they both like moist environments and their food source is decaying plant material and organic matter. They feed on all types of organic matter including fungi carrion decaying vegetation and live. Children love to play with roly polys because they are easy to find and collect are not slimy and do not bite or sting.
Often found in home gardens and landscaped areas across the country sowbugs porcellio scaber and pillbugs armadillidium vulgare also known as roly polies feed primarily on decaying matter and are important in the decomposition process. Sow bug woodlouse notice the flatness of the body of the sow bug compared to the roly poly. These small bugs are actually a land crustacean instead of an insect aid in the decomposition of dead vegetation and fungus and are important to the ecological process.
You may also find roly polies in your storage building shed or garage. To get rid of roly poly bugs reduce the habitat favored by these pests by eliminating garden debris leaf piles fallen fruit and weeds from all growing areas. The quick answer is that roly poly bugs potato bugs or pill bugs are not bad for your garden actually they are extremely beneficial for gardens and foliage.
Roly polys are also known as pill bugs wood lice armadillo bugs or potato bugs. For some species the mother might hold hundreds of eggs in this water filled reservoir and after the eggs hatch they stay there as long as two more months longer than some insects entire lifespan.
Little Big Harvest The Roly Poly Garden Friend Or Foe
A Roly Poly Invasion Insects In The City
How To Easily Get Rid Of Pill Bugs Aka Roly Poly And Sowbug
How To Get Rid Of Roly Poly Bugs Sowbugs Planet Natural
A Curious Garden Pill Bugs Solana Center For Environmental Innovation Fresh Perspectives