Why do slugs get all the press? No one seems to gripe about their pill bugs loud enough to illicit a really good solution. Is it because there are numerous ways to defeat slugs (Terry's and Nicola's excepted!) and no known organic defense against the dreaded pill bugs? Or maybe its because I have the only statue-eating pill bugs on the planet and everyone else can live with theirs easier than I. Mine will leave certain plants alone for years and then suddenly decide it is the house specialty of the month. Here's an example -

I know I moan a lot about my pill predators here, so I thought it best to really let loose when this happened! That is the remnants of a sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ that lived there for years. They chewed on its roots all spring until it finally gave up and went belly up. Now that I have confirmed that the pills do lay eggs, rather than bear live babies, I will attempt the nematodes in the compost, now that it has cooled off and see if it helps.

Are you certain that the pill bugs are doing the damage, Maggie, and not just being attracted to the dying parts of plants that have been attacked by something else. We get large brown caterpillar type grubs that spend the day underground, then at night they come out and do the damage. Our other underground pest that is raidly increasing in numbers is the vine weevil, unheard of 10 years ago, now they are everywhere. I have never seen a plant in my garden be damaged by woodlice (pill bugs) and I do have lots and lots of them, but perhaps mine are a different species...I shall try to photograph some to post here later then you can compare....as if you don't have enough of them already J

Maggie, the nematodes should help a lot. With your sprinkler system you can keep the soil moist enough for the little bene's to thrive. If we could get another couple of inches of rain (yeh, I know, dream on), I'd put them out in my lawn, which has suddenly become overrun with fire ants.

Yesterday, while watering, I felt something on my leg, looked down and from the knee down I was covered in fire ants....just that fast! Well, you can imagine...off came shoes, socks, jeans...thank goodness I don't have any close neighbors!!! Of course, I think even if that had happened to me in the city, there would have been no other option. Its not like you want to run inside with a thousand fire ants on you.

Anyway, that was about the 10th nest I found yesterday. Every time I started working somewhere, ants poured out. Do you suppose there is some sort of giant subterranean ant city located beneath all of Central Texas?

By the way, did anyone notice that Malcolm Beck apparently figured out how to call his fire ant killer something other than "soil conditioner?" I saw a bottle the other day and it said something like "Tias Fuego." I thought that rather clever. (By way of background for you non-locals, the State of Texas wouldn't let Malcolm Beck, owner of Gardenville Products, market his fire ant killer as a "fire ant killer" because it had no poison in it.

Here it is one English Woodlouse.

Plenty more where that came from, is it the same as yours Maggie? Ours don't curl up in a tight ball so I guess they are probably different.

Update on the Gardenville fire ant killer. Its not Tias Fuego, its Aunties Fuego. Oops! Sorry.

And Terry, those aren't what we call pillbugs. Here's a link with a photo. The one on the top right is what we call pillbugs. The photo shows one pillbug rolled up. The others are what we call sow bugs.
http://insects.tamu.edu/images/insects/common/images/cd-43-c-txt/cimg377.html

Thanks for those great pics guys! I have been told they are all related to lobsters, which explains alot of their defences. Terry's looks more lobster-like than my pill bugs, but what I call them exceeds a family rating. ;-)

Just a thought as I posted the message about no rot in Texas because there's no moisture. Do you think that is why the pillbugs go for live plants there and not here in England? May be that they need liquid refreshment more in the land of gas mark 5 than here in soggy land.

I only posted once...but it took ages to go, as did all the other posts today.

I had the same problem posting. Already sent a "Grrr" message to Maggie.

I think that's a good point about the pillbugs. Back in the days when I lived in town, I'd grind my kitchen waste in the blender and then go pour it in the flower beds. My green-thumb neighbor had a pillbug problem that year, but I didn't. So maybe the wet kitchen waste attracted the bugs and kept them off my plants?

Let's see if this will post quickly and/or the first time.

I'm now wondering if the posting difficulty is because there are so many threads open on the board lately with a lot of pics. There is a new version of this base program that Angie uses it on AOGC and Lars has intentions of installing it for us. Now that he is making commercial sites between reg work, I'll have to try that kitten method Terry mentioned, to bump us higher up the priority list. In the meantime, if it gets hung up, just hit 'last day' and it should post anyway. (just in case, make a copy of your post somewhere:). I'll delete any double entries if needed tho. Let's all send Grrr notes to Larry - advansys@swbell.net heehee

I think you two are really on to something bout the thristy pill bugs - brilliant!