What do rolly pollies bugs eat

Although the majority of crustacean creatures live in large waterbodies or in areas around them, rolly pollies are different. They have breathing organs located on the underside of their bodies. Due to the delicateness of them, they require this damper habitat. Rolly polly bugs tend to populate on a large scale when the weather is cool and the ground is wet. So, what do rolly polly bugs eat and drink? This little bug loves to devour all kinds of dead and decaying material in your garden and other moist places.

In addition to this, they also love to eat emerging seedlings. They love emerging seedlings so much that they can eat through an entire bed in just one night. Gardens with leaf litter or compost will get eaten even faster. Other things rolly pollies like to eat include:. This is because there is so much wet, dead, organic material here. Rolly pollies tend to live anywhere from 2 to 3 years as long as they are in the right conditions.

Like mentioned before, rolly polly bugs thrive in warm, wet, and damp weather. These are the perfect conditions for them. On the other hand, rolly pollies will die when they try and survive in hot and dry conditions. If you notice it starting to get try, you can pour a little water on it with the garden hose.

Like mentioned above, rolly pollies can eat through an entire bed of emerging seedlings in just one night. In addition to this, they also can eat holes through your growing fruits and vegetables. Although rolly polly bugs can do quite a bit of damage to your garden, they also have some benefits as well. Pill bugs are important to the ecosystem as they are as decomposers that add to the overall quality of their habitat, as well as the remarkable bodily gymnastics they perform by rolling themselves into small, grey balls.

Call Residential Commercial. Pill Bug Diet Pill bugs, sometimes also referred to as roly-pollies, primarily consume plant matter that is either decaying or is already dead and decomposed. Pill Bug Damage Although pill bugs may infrequently eat garden or other plants around a home, they rarely do so to the extent they cause damage.

Strange Feeding Habits Pill bugs do have some rather peculiar feeding habits since they are known to eat their own feces, as well as feces from other animals. What Eats Pill Bugs? Resources Dig Deeper on Sowbugs. What Do Sowbugs Eat? During this time, they receive food and water through the pouch membrane. One of the most distinctive features of rolly pollies is their hard shell. As the rolly polly grows, the hard shell becomes too small and has to be shed.

This happens in two stages. At first, the lower half of the shell is lost. Then the top half follows a day or two later. Rolly pollies are surprisingly long lived for such a small creature. They do, however, have predators. Shrews, toads, centipedes and spiders all see the rolly polly as a tasty treat. There are about 3, different species of the bug we know as the rolly polly. And they come from a number of different families.

The type that can roll into balls — hence their name — come mainly from the genera Armadillidiidae, Tylidae and Eubelidae. They also consume heavy metals and increase soil pH. And they can get rid of other pests, like stink bugs, that eat crops. But protecting the base of the stalks is an easy way to deal with that. A paper or plastic cup or bottle with the bottom cut off will do the job perfectly.

One of the other things that rolly pollies eat is fungus — and some of the fungi they eat emit carbon dioxide. So by munching away on that fungi, rolly pollies are reducing the stock of carbon dioxide emitting plant matter. That means that they may be playing their part in slowing global warming and climate change!

Rolly pollies have been around for at least million years, the age of the oldest fossils found. That compares to just , years for Homo sapiens — modern humans.