[pbs] crickets #)($%&$$#&*(%!
jegrace
jegrace at rose.net
Thu Sep 6 23:33:12 EDT 2007
Most of the info I have found on pill bugs - internet and otherwise - has
been that they only eat dead vegetation
I have personally watched the little buggers lined up munching on iris
rizomes like they were ears of corn. You could see the marks as the group
of them chowed down. (I was out with a flashlight and watched them eat) I
have lost seedlings to them and most especially tender new hosta growth.
I have a major infestation of the critters, which are more closely related
to shrimp than to the usual garden pests. All I can say is from person
experience- I know that although they are meant to be scavangers of dead and
rotting material, they love tender new plant growth and will go after and
destroy it.
Jim and Erin Grace
Thomasville, GA
-----Original Message-----
From: pbs-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org]
On Behalf Of Jim McKenney
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 11:15 PM
To: 'Pacific Bulb Society'
Subject: Re: [pbs] crickets #)($%&$$#&*(%!
In the earlier post on this topic I blamed crickets.
I got home late tonight and went out into the garden with a flashlight to
check the colchicum. Evidently I blamed the wrong critter. Tonight I found
the flowers covered with clusters of pill bugs (aka sow bugs and lots of
other names; they are terrestrial crustaceans of the order Isopoda).
I don't really know anything about the eating habits of sow bugs. Most
sources describe them as eating dead vegetation. Maybe the pill bugs were
only eating nectar.
Something is chewing and eating the tepals of the colchicum right down to
stubs.
Ideas, anyone?
Jim McKenney
jimmckenney at jimmckenney.com
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where bottle gentians are
blooming.
My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com
BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/
Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin
http://www.pvcnargs.org
Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org
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