how to get rid of pill bugs??
rema
17 years ago
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trailguide15
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLavaLady
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Rollie Pollie- Pill Bugs
Comments (56)Funny but I didnt think they ate anything at all until I planted strawberries and then POW! They do love themselves some strawberries...Oh and by the way, baby pigeons and birds like to eat these, we get lots of baby pigeons roaming and waddling around the backyard looking for food. I started the strawberries from root bunch so they didnt eat them, they waited for the berries. Just when I think I get a nice berry, there they are underneath munching away. I just spray them off and eats what left. They are very clean, I will give them that. Interesting thing I just actually learned tonight...I was looking for something I dropped earlier out in the backyard, so I went out there with a flash light. As I began looking in the grass (which is about 20 feet by 60 feet), I noticed tiny little black bugs everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE, they turned out to be rollie pollies. Some wear eating the dead grass, some were eating the tips of grass, some were just laying around, some were sleeping in bunches, others were "wrestling". I couldnt believe how many, possibly thousands. Tens of thousands. But yet I still have full strawberries if I find them before the bugs...They wait for them to get ripe BTW but when the berries get scarce, they begin to eat them when they are yellow. But they leave the actual plants alone. And I just finished planting a buttload of butterfly plant/weed seeds too. Which just happens to be their favorite. Pillbugs are not bugs, they are crustaceans, much like shrimp and crayfish. Pillbugs breathe through gills. Because of this, they need a lot of moisture or they will die. They cannot survive in water, but they must have water vapor in order to breathe. Pillbugs molt and shed, but they don't do it all at once. They shed half their exoskeleton and then shed the other half later. Pillbugs are like kangaroos because they carry their eggs in a pouch. The babies remain in the pouch for a few days and then move on. Pillbugs do not urinate. I found this fascinating because the thought of bugs urinating in the first place already seems weird and a little gross. Urine contains ammonia that must be excreted from the body, but pillbugs are able to deal with the ammonia gas and pass it straight to their exoskeleton. Pillbugs drink through their butts. They can drink through their mouths, but they also can take in water from the rear. Pillbugs eat their own poop. As if some of this information is not already alarming, pillbugs munch on poop and rotten veggies all day and even eat their own poop in order to recoup the lost copper in their bodies, which is needed in order for them to live. This is also known as coprography (or gross if you want a simpler term). Pillbugs have blue blood. The color is from a substance called hemocyanin which contains copper ions. When oxygen comes in contact with this substance, the blood of a pillbug becomes blue. Also when pillbugs get sick, they also turn blue. Pillbugs live up to two years and are active at night time....See MoreHow to get rid of these bugs?
Comments (6)I followed three different approaches in last three years to deal with aphids & thrips. These are basically sap sucking insects that come on the fresh growth. Last to last year, I used neem water (not neem oil) and tobacco water. Both were very effective against aphids, specially neem water that I used to make by boiling neem leaves. However, it was quite a hassle preparing these solution once in 10 days as aphids would come again. More importantly, both neem water as well as tobacco water killed the beneficials too which was highly undesirable. So I wanted a permanent organic solution; a preventive measure that would discourage aphids in my garden. Last year, looking for an effective preventive measure, I went for a high Ca and low nitrogen therapy. Low nitrogen puts a check on rapid growth and Ca hardens the tissue walls. So we are looking at hard tissues with less inter-tissue gap which makes the fresh growth on a rose bush un-attractive for the sap sucking pests. Again a success and there were hardly any aphids or thrips on my roses last year. But I had a price to pay.... over doze of Ca resulted in lighter shades and low fragrance in my roses. Even those roses that have the reputation of being most fragrant had mediocre fragrance. This year I adopted the approach that was similar to what Valrose wrote. I just asked myself that how much of damage aphids or thrips caused? Not much perhaps, unless there are too many of them. So I decided to live with the aphids and thrips on my rose bushes this year and when I saw too many of them on a bush, just sprayed it with a water jet. Used nothing against them. It was much easier and I have had no issues with aphids so far. I would recommend the third approach. I would let the nature work and only interfere when it is necessary or un-avoidable. best regards...See MoreWhat are these bugs and how do I get rid of them?
Comments (4)Those are aphids. If you don't use insecticides, natural predators such as lacewings, ladybugs and hoverflies will show up later and reduce populations. Meanwhile, if the aphids are overwhelming the plant, you can knock them off with your hands or a good spray of water. Your young Ping Dong Yue Ji rose would benefit from a good shower. The water will also wash off the aphid's sticky "honey dew" that can attract ants. The white objects are aphid carcasses. I don't worry about aphids as much as I used to. I want the beneficial insects well fed so that they will reproduce and take care of the thrips that arrive later in the season....See MoreWhat is this bug and how can I get rid of it?
Comments (2)It's a really bad photo, but it looks like a leaf-footed bug. These are sucking pests--they suck juices from plants and fruits. They're not that big a deal on plants, normally, but they can blemish fruits. The easiest way to deal with them is to pick them off by hand and kill them or drop them into a container or soapy water to kill them. Wear gloves because, like stink bugs, they exude an unpleasant-smelling liquid when you bother them....See MoreLavaLady
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKimmsr
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agotrailguide15
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLavaLady
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKimmsr
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKimmsr
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agotrailguide15
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKimmsr
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKimmsr
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoTiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoTiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoTiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKimmsr
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoTiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKimmsr
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoTiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
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