Sowbugs

Read about Sowbugs in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Sowbugs. There are two common species, Armadillidium vulgare and Porcellio laevis, known respectively as the greenhouse pillbug and the door-yard sowbug. These are small oval grayish terrestrial crustaceans (not insects) that live in damp situations. They feed, mostly at night, on decaying vegetable matter and sometimes attack germinating seeds and the roots, crown, and occasionally the leaves and blossoms of greenhouse plants, such as primulas, petunias, saxifrage, violets, geraniums, roses, and wisteria. Orchids, especially cattleyas, are liable to injury. Head lettuce is often infested, and sowbugs sometimes become a veritable pest in mushroom cellars. Sowbugs reproduce by means of eggs which are carried by the female in a pouch on the under side of the body. The young are similar in form to the adults and are carried by the female until they attain a considerable size. There is probably but one brood annually. Sowbugs are destroyed in greenhouses and similar situations by the use of freshly sliced potatoes or beets dusted lightly with paris green or some other arsenical. These baits should be placed on the soil near the plants to be protected in the evening, since sowbugs are nocturnal in their habits. Another excellent bait is made as follows: To a quart of corn-meal add enough brown sugar to sweeten it, then add two tablespoonfuls of paris green and stir until it is thoroughly mixed. Moisten the mixture with just enough water so that it will hold together. This bait is to be distributed around the plants as recommended above. Water-cress sowbugs (Mancasellus brachyurus).—In the eastern United States water-cress is often seriously injured by an aquatic species of sowbug that attacks the submerged portions of the plant, cuts off the roots and stems, and causes large masses of the cress to float on top of the water. This form differs from the species found in greenhouses by having longer legs and antennae and being shrimp-like in form when viewed from the side. It is about 1/2 inch in length and gray in color. It often occurs in immense numbers so as practically to destroy the whole crop. Where cress is grown in natural streams or ponds no practical method of controlling the sowbugs has been devised. Some growers, however, have been able to overcome the difficulty by growing the plants in broad shallow beds sloping toward the center, where a trough 10 inches square, lined with boards, extends the whole length of the bed. When the sowbugs become abundant, the water is shut off for twelve to twenty-four hours, allowing the beds to drain. Water is retained in the trough in which the sowbugs soon accumulate in great numbers. They may be destroyed by the addition of a liberal quantity of copper sulfate solution. Less injury will result to the plants if the water is drained off soon after the cress has been gathered. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

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