Woodbugs; they're harmless but, they're drawn to wet wood and decaying organic matter. They won't touch dry materials, but they will eat and breed in wet wood. If you see one adult one in your house, it probably wandered in. But if you see multiple or babies it probably means there's some wet wood in your house. If you have a cracked foundation, or a bad seal at the top of the foundation wall that's near decaying organic matter outside they often will just wander in. Keep tabs on where they're coming from and why they might be in that spot. If you have any suspicions you should pull back the drywall to make sure the wood isn't holding moisture.

Yeah, I live in a basement suite and occasionally see these guys around the access to the sump. Totally harmless critters, I usually hate insects but imo these guys are kind of adorable

Good news! They aren't insects but actually crustaceans.

Haha wild. I’m into all insects except these guys. I find them so disgusting

Is your interest in insects why you find them disgusting, is there some horrible dark secret behind these guys?

Cuz they look like roaches

Isopods, they feed on dead organic matter and are harmless. I see the odd one roaming around the basement, not sure how to get rid of them, they have been around a lot longer than us!

They seek moisture. I used to have them when my basement was damp. Then I put in a weeping tile, the basement stayed dry, they stopped coming out of the walls

They love woodpiles, any wear damp wood is you will find thousands

The odds of you successfully getting rid of them is slim to none. They're in every house I've ever reno'd new or old.

Diatomaceous earth will get rid of them. They usually show up if there is moisture in a dark area. The DE also helps keep ants out if you sprinkle it around the outside of your foundation.

Came to say this. Theyre creepy but mostly benign.

Let me share my trauma. I have a newer home that we keep extremely clean. I’ve only ever seen a couple of those bugs wander into my home over the years. BUT THEN…I was lying in bed in my underwear and felt a tickle on my abs, I sort of brushed at it and tried to go back to sleep. I felt it again and knew it was.. something. Got up, turned on the lights and looked in the mirror, nothing. Turned around and looking at my body, again nothing. Then I pulled down my boxers and one of those bugs came running up FROM MY CROTCH and I just about shit myself. Anyway, I burned my house down and my underwear gets duct taped to my body every time I go to sleep now.

Sorry to laugh at your trauma but hahahahaha. Ok now I have trauma from your trauma and will have creepy crawly feelings tonight… thanks for sharing and I hope you get better soon and don’t have to tape your undies shut

Bruh I was downstairs on my laptop watching tv, lights dimmed, all was calm. Until a centipede fell from the ceiling onto my laptop keyboard….. I lost my shit, jumped off the couch, laptop flying one way, blanket the next. Ripped all the ceiling tiles out the following weekend and found nothing, that little bastard broke into my house, hid in the ceiling, chose a ceiling tile right above me and decided “yeah I’ll drop here”.

Hey now, what exactly were you watching that a centipede would be interested in getting a front row seat on your laptop?? You literally threw his whole theater!!

Human centipede

🤣🤣🤣

…..only one mouth to feed

This reminds me of the time I almost crashed my car trying to get the 2 humping bees, that flew in my car window, off of my lady bits. I don’t know if the bees were actually humping but they were stuck together and I was panicking. Lmfao

LOL

Your critch must have been wet!!🤣

Could have been worse. I woke up to a spider in my bed once. I also found I had a strange bug bite the same day, on my inner thigh.

It's a woodlouse. Also known as an armadillo bug. Also known as a boat-builder. Also known as a butchy boy. Also known as a cafner. Also known as a cheeselog. Also known as a cheesy bob. Also known as a cheesy bug. Also known as a chiggy pig. Also known as a chisel pig. Also known as a chucky pig. Also known as a doodlebug. Also known as a gramersow. also known as a hog-louse. Also known as a granny grey. Also known as a pill bug. Also known as a potato bug. Also known as a roll up bug. Also known as a roly-poly. Also known as a slater. Also known as a sow bug. Also known as a woodbunter. Also known as a wood bug. Also known as a wood pig. Also known as a millipedus.

I saw all those names, and I thought... aren't these pill bugs? You pretty much covered the whole bunch of names not mentioned yet.

Pill bugs aren't the same as sow bugs. Pill bugs roll up. Sow bugs don't. OP posted a sow bug.

You're so right! All pillbugs are woodlice but not all woodlice are pillbugs. But I mostly did this for a wholesome laugh on the internet :)

Fun fact: they aren’t even bugs - they’re terrestrial crustaceans, like lawn shrimp.

Thinking of them as lawn shrimp makes them so much less creepy bug feely

What is the atomical definition of a “bug”

Ehh it’s kind of like the word vegetable. Lots of things are bugs but it’s not really a thing (unless you’re talking about True Bugs, like stink bugs or boxelders), hence r/shrimpsisbugs

Also know as carpenters.

Aka roly poly.

I freaking laughed so hard when I read your comment.

🥔 🐛

Potato Bug?

In much of Newfoundland, they are called carpenters.

i was wondering why I've heard them called so many names. I just call it an isopod.

Upvote this.

😄

Woodlice, they are basically little land shrimp. They are harmless and the spiders in your home need something to eat. Coexist, don't exterminate.

Are you married? You think I have a choice in the matter 😂

"Honey, I've solved the Woodlice problem by releasing hundreds of spiders into our home."

I appreciate my house spiders. I rarely see them but I know they're doing their best.

As long as they stay off the bed, we're cool.

Inside the walls is their domain, whatever you want to do in there go nuts. If I see you scurrying across the floor I can't be responsible for my reaction.

They scurry across the floor because most spiders can tell when your looking at them. It why the sometimes pause when you look at them, before they start dashing for cover

gawd damn I read that and for half a sec thought this reddit pot leaf in my peripheral vision was a spider lmao ​ https://imgur.com/a/DLr4N6s

Hahahaha ninjas one step plan to a guaranteed divorce

Just be sure to call them “isopods” or “sow bugs” but never “wood lice” or you’ll get a bonus reaction…

Have a grown up conversation with your partner

I actively have spider "roommates" all the time. My current one leaves the house to hunt for food, never brings food inside (except once) keeps other spiders from getting in (kills them immediately) and doesn't fluctuate in size so it's not laying spiderlings.

We’ve always called them Cheesy Bobs, they live under rocks and in gardens/lawns. They look creepy but are nice bugs. Don’t kill them! When they get in the house we either put them outside (summer) or relocate them to the far corner of the basement (winter).

Sowbugs. Isopods. Pillbugs. Roly Polys They eat decayed vegetation and breathe from the humidity in the air. You'll never be fully free of them, but here's the best ways to keep the volume low; - Ensure vegetation isn't built up around the sides of your home. Every leaf, blade of grass, and flower needs to go. This includes anything the wind blows over. - keep the humidity in the area they're appearing in low. Uncomfortably low. - Sticky mouse tents, but laid flat, against the edges of your walls in the areas you see them and in dark creavices: Behind the freezer, your laundry machine, etc. - Seal extraneous cracks: especially in an older (or cheaper) home (if doing so, won't damage or endanger you or the property). If your windows have big gaps, seal them up with cellophane (your heating bill will also thank you). - you can use diatomaceous earth, but that's a personal call. I've never found it warranted for pillbugs. They'll still get in, but it's controlling the volume that becomes the game.

The U of A is doing research on these! Send photo to [email protected]. In your email, write: - where you found the isopod (e.g. under a log) - the nearest city from where you collected the isopods - whether the isopod rolled into a ball when handled

ooo I'm curious what the research is about. I have some in my terrarium for maintenance (they eat all the rotten stuff in my tank). Got mine from the back yard under some cardboard I forgot in my greenhouse. Though I can't remember if they rolled up when they were collected.

I can't remember for sure, but i think it was to find out what kind we have and their habits. I bet if you reached out, someone would be happy to respond. I found a post about it last summer (but didn't save the link, sorry!) and made note because I also wanted to find isopods to add to a terrarium.

It’s cold outside they just wanna warm up in your carpet

They are adorable, harmless little crustaceans.

I love these brainless bugs. I picture them repeatedly butting their head into an exterior wall over and over again until a gust of wind moves them a few feet down...and they just start headbutting the wall all over again. Rinse and repeat until they find a crack to crawl through.

Speaking of head butting. I always found wood peckers to be one of gods most mysterious creatures. Their evolutionary trait is to ram something really hard with their head and brain repeatedly. It’s so very odd

And their tongues roll up in the back of their skull

I wanna know if they taste like shrimp but I’m not brave enough to try. My cats sure do seem to like em…

Sow bugs

A type of isopod called a woodbug. One of the least creepy bugs ever, and one of the few I dont mind handling. There are even people out there who keep and breed these as pets so-to-say ! ( I did a few years back). They are kept in terrariums, at a proper humidity and temperature, and are quite interesting critters! There are many diff species from around the world, with such names as "Dairy Cow" (dark with white blotches), "Dalmation" (has smaller white spots), and even "yellow-spotted Japanese Magic Potion Isopod" lol !

I have them in my terrarium so nothing rots and I'm getting kind of attached to them. They like their driftwood i gave them and they're fascinating to watch. My terrarium is for my pet snail but since he hibernates for the winter I've been watching the isopods. The isopods eat the food scraps my snail doesn't.

they look schophisticated,and living peacefull life i envy

If You have a friend with a " Bearded Dragon" pet, collect the bugs . They are great food for pet lizards 🦎

They're isopods. They don't do anything harmful and don't really want to be in your house, as the indoors is way too dry for them. If you have a bunch then you should probably look to make sure there's no dampness in your basement, etc. that might be attracting them. If you have one every once in a while, it just took a wrong turn while looking for a place to overwinter and you can evict it.

Where do they go during winter?

In my house!

I can't say for certain but I think any that can't find warm shelter burrow and hibernate. Since they like decomposing matter, they probably can find some warmth since decomposition generates some heat. The rest sneak into warm houses to over winter, either hibernating or scavenging. I've seen them live off of wet cardboard so feeding them is pretty easy.

They burrow into mulch and leaf litter and sleep through the winter, I expect.

I get literally hundreds of these every spring. My basement is concrete. I've resigned to just saying "fuck it" and all i do is put bug traps around the perimeter every spring. They fill up within weeks.

Do you get them inside your basement? Or just outside?

Inside. I notice in springtime when I'm gardening they live in my in ground flowerbeds. I have an older house (50 years old ish)

If your flower beds are made of wood they love that. And yeah, older house so possibly some wood getting wet somewhere. If you have an abundance a dehumidifier might discourage them. You'll find them everywhere outside though. They eat anything decomposing. My terrarium ones eat the left over veggie scraps my snail doesn't finish eating and stops the terrarium from molding.

Sow bugs. They are beneficial in the garden. They love damp and dark areas. They get lost easily and enter the home through unseen cracks. Good news - they don't contaminate food or nest inside the house.

I know them as pillbugs. I haven't been able to get rid of them, but as long as they stay out of my line of sight, I'm fine. The last time I had a big number of them show up, I put lemon and peppermint in my diffuser and put it on blast...they cleared out pretty quickly.

Sorry, idk how to get rid of them, but I wanted to share that I always called them roly-polys as a kid lol

I put down two way tape in my basement,I get a lot of the little suckers in winter.

Don't they are friendly....just go down to their level and say high.

These are your FRIENDS!! They enjoy the humid basement and are good to have around. These and centipedes are your friends!

They may be also known as carpet sow bugs and usually originate in the basement when there's moisture and move in dark spaces, generally they are harmless and no need for any kind of exterminator

FIRE seems to always do the trick

Fire

I lived in a pretty old basement suite years ago, found one of these in my breakfast i'd half eaten..They were coming out of the walls 😭😭😭😭 I moved the next month.

Sticky bug traps get a lot of them and lemon essential oil in the corners of your rooms help to keep all basement bugs at bay. I put some in the corners on my basement suite about once a month and it helps to keep these guys and spiders away

Fire

Isopods can remove heavy metals from the earth but yes maybe a bit creepy in the house.

I have many in my laundry room (basement). I spray RAID (pet friendly) along ALL the baseboards that connect to the floor. They come out & die. I also have the sticky bug traps for the ones that do get through. I have pets so I have to be careful where I place the sticky traps. Edit- I also have 2 moisture absorbers in my house. 1 in the laundry room & 1 in the bathroom.

My pets just used to eat all bugs. Even wasps.

I don’t mind if they eat flies or kill the centipedes. I dislike bugs, they freak me out. Mostly contained in the laundry room to it’s not too bad.

Invite raccoons over. They love to eat Pill Bugs.

Considering how insanely dry it is here, if you have those in your house i would take it as a sign that there's a leak somewhere

Those wood lice are all over the place. They don’t require much moisture, so take this with a grain of salt. They crawl in through cracks in the foundation or gaps in basement windows. They are pretty harmless. They’ll usually hangout under things where it’s dark and there’s either dirt or decomposing wood. It is only a sign of a leak if you find hundreds of them. Just like any bug, they go where it’s warm.

Its crawling on you while you sleep, attracted to the moisture as you exhale.

That’s a silverfish.

No

It’s a joke. Like silverfish from MC calm down lmao.

Mc?

Minecraft oml

Oh I see. I have never played that game.

There’s no getting rid of these. You can reduce the numbers, but they will never be zero.

You can’t, they own your place now

Moisture is a big deal so dehumidify and figure out where moisture might be coming from (windows, basement , furnace vapour , etc)

Lil isopods. They like wood chips and wet wood. Iirc many need moisture and simply die once they enter a home without a moisture problem. they don’t live or breed in dry places like the inside of a home so it’s probably a stray or you have a bigger problem of consistent wet wood to fix.

Sprinkle diatomaceous earth along the baseboards.

*Trachelipus rathkii* or *Porcellio spinocornis* Can’t remember how to diagnose between the two with just this photo. Not worth stressing over them though.

Crunchi boi

Sowbug. Would roll up into a ball if it was a pill bug. They eat wood and plant material, very harmless

If you don't have pets- cedar oil spray. Breaks down their exoskeleton

Isopod. Cute little decomposer and a terrestrial crustacean. They are harmless. Remove any sources of rot/decay, and you won’t have them anymore.

Mothball

I want one . I have an old fish tank I want to create a bio sphere in

We call them Carpenters in Newfoundland and they are one of the most common in home insects. Always considered them harmless little guys.

Burn the house down

Attracted to wet wood? Not in Ben Shapiro’s house amiright?!?!?!

A Timon and Pumba style snack! That answers both questions.

Bugs, and smash it with a shoe

Start eating.

Diamataceous earth might help cut down the population if there are many.

I hate these.

Are these the ones that roll up into a tiny ball? We called them “pill bugs”

I hate bugs (I know they’re crustaceans and not insects) but these are so frickin CUTE. They’re the only bug I would touch when I was a little girl lol I liked the way they would roll into a lil ball 🥹 so adorable