|
DITCHLING CORPORATION LIMITED
"Supplying professional Pest Control products since 1964"
|
|
|
DITCHLING CORPORATION LIMITED
"Supplying professional Pest Control products since 1964"
|
|
 
|
|
Sowbugs and Pillbugs, also known as Wood Lice, areCrustaceans and more closely related to Shrimps, Crayfish, Crabs and Lobsters than to insects.
Normally, they live outdoors. They may become pests in and around homes where there is trash, rocks, mulch or decaying matter around the building. They move indoors into basements; slab floors and sliding doors have also increased the likelihood of these pests entering homes.
Sowbugs and Pillbugs are not as well adapted as insects in maintaining moisture. Therefore, they must remain beneath objects on damp ground or even below ground during the day. They may even group together in masses to reduce water loss. At night they take advantage of the lower temperatures and more humid conditions and will travel in the open.
Both of these crustaceans feed on decaying matter. Sometimes they will feed on and injure young plants, or their roots. They are most attracted to moist vegetable matter and often eat overripe fruit lying on the ground. Moist food helps replenish needed moisture to their bodies.
The females have a brood pouch in which the eggs are kept and hatched. Hatching of the eggs is dependent on the average temperature of the region, the warmer the area the faster the eggs hatch; temperature also affects the number of generations per year - usually 1 to 3. The young may remain in the pouch for up to 6 weeks before leaving permanently. The adults may live for 2 years or more.
Control
Control includes management practices and sanitation as well as application of pesticides.
Sanitation should be the first step. The elimination of leaves, grass clippings, piles of mulch, rocks and other moist harborages will remove many of the breeding places. If crawl spaces are excessively moist, take steps to eliminate the condition. Flower pots and planters should be raised to allow air to pass under them and reduce moisture.
Mechanical exclusion can be successful and should be applied wherever practical. Possible points of entry should be sealed or blocked; door sills, windows below grade (window wells) and cracks in foundations or brickwork. Weather stripping and/or caulking will help.
Chemical controls can include barrier treatment, applying a residual insecticide around the foundation of the property up to a band width of 6-8 feet.
|
|
INSECTICIDES
|