New Zealand

Slaters (also known as woodlice, sowbugs and pill bugs) are multi-legged, land-living crustaceans found all over Australia. They are scavengers and feed mainly on decaying organic matter and are usually considered beneficial.

Although there is little information regarding lifespan for slaters, terrestrial isopods live between 1-5 years on average. It has been suggested that this species typically lives 2-3 years, though up to 90% die within a month of emerging from their brooding pouches.

They are part of the same family as Black Portuguese millipedes (left) and slaters (right) generally feed on organic matter, however their populations and the incidence of crop attack has increased in recent years. several native Australian millipedes and centipedes called myriapods, meaning ‘many-legged’.

Woodlice, also known as slaters and pillbugs, are abundant animals in most gardens and greenhouses. They are largely beneficial creatures and cause little or no damage to healthy plants.

Slaters are easily killed with a direct spray of insecticides either with an aerosol or ready to use pump pack.

There are a few basic things you can do to woodlice-proof your home.

1. Make your house as woodlice-unfriendly as you can. This involves checking for any places that might feel like home to them.
2. Check for damp walls. Damp walls also attract woodlice.
3. Keep plants and weeds away from doors.
4. Clean your roof gutter.

Put some hollowed out orange halves or seedling punnets filled with potato peelings out in the garden for the slaters to munch on instead. Remove these when full and empty the slaters out away from any seedlings you want them to stay away from.

How to get rid of Woodlice. No treatment is necessary but if they persist put right any dampness, remove infested vegetation and use an insecticidal powder or long-lasting spray around door-thresholds or other points of entry. Amateur use products are available from your local garden centre or hardware store.

Can Vinegar Kill Woodlice? Woodlice are unaffected by vinegar as they simply roll up into a protective ball and the liquid is unable to get through their hard outer shell.

“Boiling Water” I did this and we have never seen anymore Ant’s, this was over 15yrs ago now, so it does work. effective.

Are woodlice harmful? Woodlice are harmless creatures, and don’t present any health risks to humans. As mentioned, they may cause superficial damage to wooden upholstery, but woodlice are otherwise benign.

three-four years

The woodlouse is clearly pregnant. On her belly, past her wriggling legs, there is a yellow-ish bulge: the ‘marsupium’, where woodlice carry their eggs for six weeks. Once the baby woodlice are ready, the brood pouch tears, dropping the small bugs on the ground. There, they gorge on the faeces of other woodlice.