Generally they like a high degree of moisture, which is not something I'd equate with a water-wise AZ garden, so maybe it is the amount of irrigation you are providing. Ever consider developing a more drought tolerant garden that requires minimal irrigation?

If that's not your thing and these guys are present in large numbers, try cornmeal or corn gluten meal. Available in bulk cheaply at feed stores, the pill bugs are attracted to it and eat it. But it affects their digestive system and kills them. Lot less expensive than DE and holds up better with irrigation. Corn gluten meal is also a low grade organic fertilizer, a pre-emergent herbicide and has a number of fungicidal properties as well..

Gardengal: Thanks! I am severely overrun by those tiny armadillos, too. Where do you get corn gluten meal?

I am dubious that they are responsible for your woes. But if you choose to go the route I hyperlinked at the bottom read instructions first before ordering. I seem to recall spraying once temps are under 90F is needed. With as many as you have give the gift that keeps on giving. Try and spray them within 24 hours of getting them.

http://insected.arizona.edu/isoinfo.htm
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/PESTS/sowbugs.html
http://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/Pests/pests_Sowbugsandpillbugs.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillidiidae

Here is a link that might be useful: Nematodes - Steinernema carpocapsae

Possibly dumb question: the blurb sounds like it would kill anything, like earthworms.
Do they last or reproduce?

Thank you gardengal and fascist for your suggestions;

to gardengal; no my property is not "water-wise" but I pay dearly for my city services bill of my own free will and choice. We live in an historic district, and have chosen to maintain the existing landscape which happens to be old-school Phoenix lawn in front and back with large mature trees. It can remain fairly moist though in the front where the problem really exists - as it is nearly totally shaded all year until my mulberry tree sheds it's leaves.

to Fascist_nation - I can understand you scepticism and appreciate it, however; I have really followed this issue for quite some time and have yet to discover any other potential explanation so far. I should clarify that they only seem to be damaging VERY small plants - anything I've tried to grow from seed and really became apparent when I scalped the bermuda in prep for rye and they soil top was literally moving with them! enough to give someone the "heebie-jeebies" kind of startled me and what prompted me to post this question - as according to nearly all the information you shared they can cause damage to already-weakened/stressed plants and seedlings or plants touching the ground (kind of exactly what I'm having trouble with)

Either way, I will give some of these suggestions a shot

Here are a couple shots of my front and back yards by the way;

Backyard
{{gwi:422134}}

Frontyard
{{gwi:422136}}
{{gwi:422139}}

As heavy as our sowbug populations are, this is likely to be inadequate, but I read that a wet rolled up newspaper laid down at sundown will be full of them in the morning, ready to toss. I thought I would try this to see.
Also the lay-down-boards-and-scrape-bugs-off-in-morning, but this could get old, too.
At least I could give them to the chickens to eat.

interesting idea- i do believe that would be at least somewhat helpful as I've done something like that already - when we got some new canna lilies earlier this summer i placed them in them intended locations while still in nursery containers and the next day when i went to move them there must have been hundreds under each pot which I promptly smashed all of them!

Reminds of a friend of mine who freaked out about snakes and hired someone to kill them all (10 acre property) with poison (illegal). My friend didn't actually see a snake, just hated the idea of snakes.

Couple of years later big rodent problem, surprise, surprise. Hired more poisoning.

The reason I tell this story is because if you have a huge population of sowbugs then you must also have a great habitat for them. So you can certain smash, poison or whatever to rid your self of these beneficial insect (yes they will eat a bit of new growth, but hardly enough to matter) but then you have to ask yourself...what moves in to that great habitat next? Maybe a bug that actually is harmful?

I am also dubious sowbugs are the main bug eating your seedlings. There are way more likely suspects. You see sowbugs, you see eaten plants, you make the connection...but that doesn't mean they're the only ones. A lawn of fresh rye is a buffet for many inspects. Sowbugs is way, way, way down the list of creatures lining up you eat your lawn.

If you just want the satisfaction of killing a few bugs then the newspaper trick is as good as any...or just pick some out of the lawn and smash those since you have such a huge population. But clearing an entire lawn? Or even reducing numbers by smashing? That seems lets say...optimistic.

I'm guessing you will be insulted by this, so sorry in advance, but your actual best weapon by far in the attainment of a feeling of well being is knowledge. That's meant as help, not as an insult. Irrational fear/focus on a specific insect only leads to disappointment and stress.

The condescension from some of you people - I understand you are attempting to "help" and have taken your time to type out this very long winded diatribe in response to my query. I will look elsewhere for assistance rather than to be "talked down to" on an internet forum by some a-hole who gets a kick out of coming across as a know-it-all.

This is a problem I have been dealing with for MANY MONTHS through summer in my Bermuda lawn as well as throughout all my beds - I am looking for the SATISFACTION of getting to the bottom on the problem - and you clearly knew that your unnecessarily sarcastic response was going to be taken as such. I have read quite a bit of information regarding garden insects, watering culture, soil etc - and they aren't eating the RYE itself but that is when the level of the insect population was noticed.

Perhaps you can take your dubious response and shove it? Thank you but no thank you for your "help"

More and more I'm choosing to not try and help people...because it rarely does any good at all...just pisses them off. The bottom line is always the same, they're going to do what they're going to do. They only come to forums to get their misconceptions reenforced by others with the same view.

I remember many years ago when the internet wasn't like that. But more and more every year it gets worse and worse.

Luckily you can get support for any view you like thanks to the internet today and feel confident you were totally right all along and how dare all those a holes ever even suggest something you didn't want to hear....after asking for advice...in a public forum. You just have to shop around for the opinions you want to hear..

And Dick, it's not sarcasm. Just because you don't care for the info doesn't make it sarcasm. But you are right, you are being talked down to because you're totally wrong on the sowbugs. How is that our fault?

Kevin, 1) Sow bugs breathe through 'gills', the gills must be kept wet in order for them to breathe; 2) they are of the family of crustaceans (crayfish, lobster, crab); 3) on rare ocassions they become numerous enough to feed on leaves of small plants in the garden; 4) they are not dangerous or harmful; 5) problems usually begin outside the home in moist plant beds.

To manage these pests, 1) do whatever you can to dry out the area; 2) the chemicals you need to use to kill these 'pests' are toxic to humans.

Kevin, you are attracting the bugs because you chose to surround your home with a 'wet landscape'. Plus, we've had a wet monsoon season, this is why they are here in large numbers now. The best way to eliminate these bugs, at least in my opinion anyway, is to just cut back on the moisture. That's a beautiful lawn but really, you are in Phoenix, an arid zone for sure. I hope you find this information helpful. Peace. Mary

Here is a link that might be useful: U of Idaho Extension paper by Patricia Gadsby

ernie, the beneficial nematodes FN linked do not kill earth worms. They are *beneficials*. I used that product earlier this year as an attempt to control an out-of-control tick problem in my yard. I do think it helped but has to be constantly re-applied. My yard is so large, and the problem so severe, we resorted to an exterminator to spray the yard and house. We have one neighbor, young guy who inherited his home from his parents, and he does not take care of his yard and has two large dogs. We suspect the ticks will constantly wander over to our yard from his so we're spraying monthly. grrrrrrr.

Corn gluten meal - The Stock Shop, if you are on the west side or Summer Winds carries it. But I disagree with gardengal about it's pricing. I find it expensive, you need quite a lot to be successful. When we return to a drier environment, the pill bug population should ease up. I expect they are cyclical.

Thank you for your suggestions Mary - I will give it a shot at drying out a bit. I did shut off the irrigation several times thanks to the monsoons but I'm sure it was just EXTRA wet and add that with the shady yard.

Clearly my yard is not really suffering that much and they must not represent the threat or sign of poor health I was initially worried they did.

This post was edited by KevininPHX on Fri, Nov 7, 14 at 7:44

I'm glad to hear your fears are alleviated. That MUST have been scary to see the ground undulating with bugs. I'd have screamed like a girl. ;-)

Well when there is anything in that quantity, my initial thought is that it CANT be good.

We'll see how the cooling down and dry-out helps :-D

Mary,

You ARE a girl!

I think I am going to use the brush-them-off-the-boards technique. The chickens will be happy. If it's frugal, I'm all for it. It makes me mad when I find them ensconced in a pit in one of my very rare strawberries, eating away.

Hey - I AM WOMAN! heheh

Arbico Organics is a Tucson company with an amazing variety of pest deterrents and insecticides. Here's a link to a product that works on sowbugs (although you may need to buy a case, with your population!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Arbico Organics

Thank you Eileen - I will look in to this :-D

Kinda off topic, but why are lawns considered part of "historic Phoenix?" They really weren't around until after WW2. I've never noticed one in the background of any of my family's pictures. I'll have to specifically ask my grandmother, she lived at Central & Camelback in the 1930s. She's mentioned oleanders and oranges but no lawns.

Anyway, pillbugs. I don't blame them for living in our gardens--where else would they live? I didn't start noticing them until I started mulching more. Probably the easiest way to be rid of them is to water less and use less decaying organic matter so the place is less hospitable. They do eat new growth and apparently love strawberries.

I have a chicken you can borrow. She'd dig them all up and eat them for you. I'm kidding of course, but she is awesome at finding bugs. I can't wait to be able to let them out once my daughter's dogs are gone.

Hello,

I am trying to find a Pill Bug Armadillidium spp. supplier for Biological Resource Centre based in Wisconsin, USA. We used to have a collector out in California that would provide us with thousands at a time. Our purchases would be around 5,000 to 15,000 bugs at a time. If you are still have a Pill Bug infestation, why not make some money off of them!? We'd pay $.06 per bug, so you'd make $600 from collecting and shipping 10,000 bugs multiple times a year. Please let me know if you or anyone else you know would be interested. :)

Regards,

Drew