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Hi,

Are woodlice a good or bad sign? I have been having a tidy of the
greenhouse and there seem to be quite a few. For some reason I
associate them with dead and rotting material; I certainly hope none
of the plants in my greenhouse fall into that category!

Leaves don't last forever. All plants, however healthy, have some dead
material.

I wouldn't worry about woodlice. Others say that their mouth parts are
too soft to deal with anything other than decaying material, and I've
never found them to be a problem.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

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from Dave Poole contains these words:

On the subject of woodlice - or rather allied crustacea, in recent
years I've noticed increasing numbers of 'hopper' like arthropods in
wet areas. They are very similar in appearance to sand hoppers and
fresh water shrimps, but live under large pots (and presumably rocks
where water accumulates. I shifted a potful of Taro, which needs
copious watering and some spare Cannas and hundreds of them jumped out
all over the place. They are about 1cm. long at most - usually much
smaller and have pinkish or grey brown segmented bodies that are
typically flattened.

They live in the wet sludge that often accumulates under pots when the
bases aren't raised. Visually they are most similar to those fresh
water shrimps that swim away sideways when you dislodge them from
under stones in stream and rivers. These jump in all directions and
disappear very quickly. They are probably quite common, but I can't
seem to find any reference to them either as allies to the sand
hoppers, freshwater shrimps or woodlice. Any ideas?

We've got exactly the same thing Dave. Since we're also right by the
coast, at first I thought they WERE sandhoppers, which are often present
on the seaweed I collect for mulch and compost. I supposed I'd brought
them in with it . But that has always happened, and in the past, the
seaweed sandhoppers would die within hours of arrival This new lot are
tougher survivors, and grow bigger than the ones on the beach. This
summer, they appeared in waves unrelated to seaweed forays. I'm
wondering if it's something to do with climate change, and even, if
they arrive in coastal rain!

They don't bite, irritate or seem to do any harm in the garden, but
we have had a minor bother with them coming into the house, especially
attracted by lights at night. Hoppers leaping round the floors or bath
is not a good look. Even worse, when they (soon) die indoors, that
translucent grey brown colour turns shrimp pink and the corpses are even
more noticeable :-( Luckily the warmth or dryness of the house seems to
kill them quickly.

I wonder what they are. If you ever find out, please let me know.

Janet.

we have an entomologist at my work. pm me with a picture or better still hunt one of the beasties down and post me a specimen. We should be able to identify it. Kerry

The message
from kerryo contains these words:

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Janet Baraclough Wrote:
The message
from Dave Poole contains these words:



I wonder what they are. If you ever find out, please let me know.

Janet.


we have an entomologist at my work. pm me with a picture or better
still hunt one of the beasties down and post me a specimen. We should
be able to identify it. Kerry

Thankyou, will do . Would you email me your post address please?
Don't post it here.

Janet