Pill bugs and sow bugs feed
on decaying plant matter such as rotting wood chips and mulch. They are an
important link in the group of organisms that dispose of, and recycle these
materials. House centipedes linger in the shadows of this habitat snatching off
very small insects, spiders and other very small creatures. They are the wolves
of this dark, damp world. They play the important role of regulator.
Like most of the backyard
fauna, all will enter your house if given the opportunity. They are more than
happy to go where they can find food and habitat similar to their outside home.
Damage and Importance
Pill bugs, sow bugs and
house centipedes, if present in your home, will be found in dark, damp and
relatively undisturbed areas of structures. This usually means your basement or
crawl space. More specifically, around floor drains or near damp wood such as
paneling or baseboards. Also, look under any cardboard boxes in the basement that
haven’t been moved lately.
None of these home invaders
cause damage to your home. In fact the house centipede will do a pretty good
job preying upon small insects, mites and spiders. However, the sight of one
skittering in and out of a floor drain in the basement can cause great alarm to
some homeowners.
House centipedes have bitten
people. They are not poisonous. In fact, they have very weak jaws and their
bite ranks around a mosquito bite on the severity index.
Identification
Pill bugs and sow bugs are
quite similar in appearance. Anyone who has ever flipped over a board laying on
the ground has seen one, or both.
The pill bug will roll up in
a ball when disturbed. The sow bug cannot ball up. It has two tail-like
appendages on the tip of its abdomen, preventing it from exhibiting this
behavior.
The house centipede’s many
(15 pairs) long legs and striped coloring make it very distinctive. Some folks
misname them millipedes, but they are quite different. All centipedes have one
pair of legs for each body section (segment). Millipedes have two pairs for
what appears to be each segment.
None of these are actually
insects.
Controlling Pill Bugs, Sow Bugs, and House
Centipede’s
Through the summer months
you might find any or all of these harmless creatures roaming around your house.
The probability will increase if you have mulched areas near entrances and have
an attached wooden deck. Moist summers tend to favor higher populations.
Dispose of them as you would any other nuisance, non-damaging household pest.
Keeping them out of your house involves sealing cracks and crevices to deny
entry.
Changing the local habitat
can help keep these unwelcome guests out of your house. Remove any
non-essential debris, mulch and boards from around your house. Establish a zone
of bare soil adjacent to your house that will dry out.
If you seem to have
unusually high numbers of pill bugs or sow bugs, this is an indication that
you’ve probably got damp wood nearby that needs to be dried or replaced. House
centipedes are predators. If you have high numbers of these, it indicates they
have a plentiful supply of prey nearby.
If all other options don’t
seem to be getting results you can set up a perimeter pest control program.
This is an insect control program where a foundation spray is applied to discourage
insects, spiders, and other home-invading pests from entering your house.
Perimeter pest control treatments are started in the spring, continue into the
summer, and end in the fall when insects begin to hibernate for the winter.
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