Are sow bugs pests or beneficial insects? Read this one article to understand

The scientific name of the sow bug is the woodlouse, also known as the damp bug, pill bug, ground louse, and so on. It is the common name for animals of the genus Porcellio in the family Porcellionidae. There are more than 150 species worldwide, most of them widely distributed cosmopolitan species. The body is mostly elongated and oval. Common species in China include Porcellio scaber, Porcellio laevis, and others. The earliest record can be found in the insect section of the Compendium of Materia Medica. Let us take a look below at whether sow bugs are pests or beneficial insects!

Are sow bugs pests or beneficial insects?

For agriculture, sow bugs arepests. In the field, sow bugs mainly damage melon seedlings and the young shoots, tender roots of cruciferous vegetables, as well as berries such as strawberries. They like to eat the leaves of rapeseed, mustard, bok choy, tomato, cucumber, pumpkin, bottle gourd, soybean, cowpea, amaranth, water spinach, lettuce, and edible fungi. They mostly live in dark, damp corners, and especially prefer to shelter under rotting wood, fallen leaves, and stones. Sometimes they also appear in houses and courtyards.

What ecological habits do sow bugs have?

Sow bugs are one of the groups of crustaceans adapted to life on land. They usually live in moist places rich in humus, such as under stones in damp areas, under decaying wood, in tree holes, in damp grass and moss, under water vats in courtyards, under flower pots, and even in damp, shaded indoor areas. They are omnivorous, eating dead leaves, dead grass, green plants, fungal spores, and so on. Autumn is the peak breeding period. At 21°C, eggs hatch into young after about 26 days.

How should sow bugs be controlled?

1. Agricultural control: Control irrigation, reduce field humidity, and lessen their damage. After harvest, promptly clean the field and deep plow the soil to reduce the source of the pests.

2. Trapping control: When overwintering adult and larval sow bugs begin their activity, set piles of dead leaves and weeds in the evening to attract and gather them, then kill them in the early morning.

3. Apply poisonous soil: Mix 2.3% deltamethrin or 20% fenvalerate with soil and spread it on the ground, using 50-100 grams of pesticide per mu mixed with 10-20 kg of soil.

4. Spray pesticide on the ground: Spray with 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate, 0.45% malathion emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution, or 2.5% deltamethrin emulsifiable concentrate, 20% fenvalerate liquid at 3000 times dilution.