A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Buglady... a question for you

What do rolly-pollies, or pill bugs, and pincher bugs do for the garden? I have a ton of pill bugs under my maple and lime tree and I am always finding icky pincher bugs everywhere. Will they hurt anything or are they okay? What purpose do they serve?

Kristen,
I have those in my compost....
They eat up the decomposing stuff!!

I didn't think they hurt anything...
But more beneficial!!
(At least in my compost)


but maybe buglady may say something else

Weezie

They are used in my garden by all the kids as fish food. My fish love them.

Those rollie-pollie bugs (we call them B-B Bugs) make great children's pets. They are quiet, don't take up much space (a dixie cup), and won't eat you out of house and home. A four year old boy can carry them around in his pocket for days and not kill them. (Brennan even sleeps with his sometimes!)

I use to have a rollie-pollie as a pet when I was a kid too. They are neat little bugs. My sister, the biologist, thinks they do the same type of job as an earth worm, aerating the soil, but I figured Suzanne the Buglady would know for sure.

But what do pincher bugs do? Other than suddenly show up on your leg and make you jump a mile??

PINCH!!!


I actually don't know. (Believe it or not!!! )
Better wait on the bug lady!
Sorry...just couldn't pass that opportunity up!!!

OUCH!!!

Where is our bug lady?????

Sorry .. buglady was off working....

here you go.....
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Order Isopoda
Family Armadillidiidae
Genus there are several

Roly-poly bug (AKA Pill bug or Sow bug) is an Isopod.. NOT an insect. They eat decaying plants and animals and some living plants. This means they can be a problem to some plant species but for the most part they are harmless...and are needed to break down decaying plant matter making it soil.

Hope this helps!!!!

What about the pincher bug? Is it good or bad?
(My parrot pinches me and she is good.)

Do you mean earwigs?

Some eat plants, some dead leaf litter and some eat pest insects. I let them live in my garden and dont worry about them.

You are so cool!
Thank you for helping us so much.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!

Thank you Buglady! I lost this post so I had to search for it again. Thanks for replying!

As long as they aren't hurting my plants they can stay.