small brown crustacean in house
Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 10:39 PM
I live in Southern CA and we’ve had heavy rain the last few days. Since this morning we are finding small brown bugs that look like a crustacean and kind of like a maggot. They are in the front rooms of the house and on the front patio. Could they be from the rain and what are they? The picture attached is from the web, but the look almost identical. Thanks
Lauren
in house in Southern CA
Lawn Shrimp
Hi Lauren,
What a wonderful photo of Arcitalitrus sylvaticus, a Lawn Shrimp, according to BugGuide, or House Hopper, according to Charles Hogue in Insects of the Los Angeles Basin. According to BugGuide: “These are rarely seen except when flooding or lack of moisture forces them to abandon their home in the soil in search for suitable conditions. At such times they often end up dieing on pavement or in homes and become a nuisance. Once they start appearing, there’s not much that can be done except to sweep them up- pesticides are pointless, because by then they’re already dieing or dead. The best solution is to keep the numbers down the rest of the year by keeping the soil from staying too moist- in California, especially, they’re a sign of overwatering. Physical barriers like weather-stripping can also help to keep them out of homes, but their bodies are flat and narrow, allowing them to slip through surprisingly narrow cracks. ”
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Slaters Nutrition
Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 1:08 AM
Hi There
Do slaters have omega 3 fatty acids
I’m planning for peak oil
Edward
Tasmania
Slater
Hi Edward,
We believe David Gracer would be better qualified to answer your questions about the nutritional value of a Slater or Sea Louse, a Marine Isopod. We can’t help but wonder if you are contemplating an appearance on the television series Survivor or just planning for a global disaster with the accompanying food shortage.
Greetings,
Yes, I’ve eaten these guys, and theyíre not bad. I can’t speak to individual species [I never keyed mine out], but there ís a history of documentation on the consumption of woodlice, rolly-pollies, pillbugs, and sowbugs, all of which are terrestrial isopods like this one here. Holt discussed them briefly in his landmark 1885 ìWhy Not Eat Insects?î According the English folk medicine belief in the doctrine of signatures, these isopods were used as medicine because some species rolled into a pill shape. Despite its own disclaimer, this URL features a few recipes.
http://www.geocities.com/~gregmck/woodlice/recipes.htm
Next year I may well farm these ëbugsí in a fishtank environment, and try these preparations for myself.
Best,
Dave
Pill bugs
I was looking at your site and noticed the bit about Rolly Pollys. Growing up in New Orleans, we always called them Doodle Bugs. I have since moved to Birmingham, AL and they call them Rolly Pollys. Just thought you might like to have that for your knowledge base.
Kevin
Thanks Kevin,
We have always associated the common name Doodle Bug with the Ant Lion Larvae.
¶ Posted 11 November 2007 § ‡ ° blue sow bug
I just wanted to know if a blue sow bug is rare? Or why it is blue. I thought it was very pretty looking.
Thank you,
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
Our guess on this, and we must emphasize the guess part, is that your Pill Bug might be freshly molted and has still not darkened to gray.
Update: (04/28/2007) blue wood lice dear folks
in regard to the blue woodlouse you posted: it is infected with an iridovirus. here is a link to a page with more woodlouse information– http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/7649/woodlice/wliceod.htm although these little blue guys are pretty–the first time i saw one, i thought it was a lapis bead and tried to pick it up; boy was i surprised when it uncurled!–they are, unfortunately, on their way to being compost. thanks for all your good bug work!
patty
Hi Patty,
Thank you so much for a most awesome update, correction and link to information.
1
¶ Posted 27 April 2007 § ‡ ° Please help identify these home invaders
Hello!
I have browsed through the common millipedes/centipedes and pantry beetles as suggested and haven’t quite been able to identify the insect invading my home. I believe it may be a centipede. These bugs first appeared en mass (about 40 found in half an hour) in my Toronto home at the end of March. They are very slow and ball up in their hard shells when approached. I do not believe them to be pantry beetles as I do not find them in my kitchen. They seem to be coming in from under the spare room (where there is no basement)where it attaches to the main house. I have hopefully filled the cracks now but would really like to know what these are so I can better prepare to defend my home. I apologize in advance that the 3rd picture is a bit blurry. Thank you,
Karen
Hi Karen,
These are not insects but Crustaceans. They are Terrestrial Isopods commonly known as Pill Bugs or Sow Bugs. Children sometimes call them Rollie-Pollies. They are more of a nuisance than a problem.
¶ Posted 24 April 2006 § ‡ ° what is this?
dear bugmen,
enclosed you will find a strange animal i’ve noticed in lithuania last year in a window of a kavine baras, a bar in vilnius. it must be a kind of mixture between a woodlouse and a cancer and it was 18 cm long! it was taking a sunbath using a feeler to hold itself on the wall. don’t know was it alive or not… do you know what it is???greetings from berlin
mona
Hi Mona,
We are researching your fascinating creature. It looks like a marine isopod to us, and we suspect it was placed in the window of the bar, dead, as a conversation piece.
Update: (02/14/2008) Mystery isopod answer
Hello.
I was having a look at your sow bug area and I saw the photo of “Mystery isopod ( 20/03/2006 ). It is a marine isopod called Saduria sabini.
Alberto Delrio
Thanks Alberto,
We love getting old mysteries solved.
¶ Posted 20 March 2006 § ‡ ° My Fiancé hates these things
We’ve had these crawling around our basement here in Bloomington MN for the last few weeks. Any idea what they are and how to get rid of them?
Thanks, Chris
Hi Chris,
These are Sow Bugs, terrestrial Isopods. They proliferate in dark, damp areas.
¶ Posted 17 March 2006 § ‡ ° what bug is this?
Hi Bugman,
I was wondering if you know the name of this bug. I found it last week near a river in sydney. From what i remember the bug is about 3-4cm long. Thank you in advance.
Cheers,
Phylis
Hi Phylis,
This is some type of Isopod. We found a photo of a marine specimen from Australia that looks very similar. A common name is Australis is Slater.
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