Do you have a case of the “rollie pollie ollies” in your backyard?

If you don’t know what they are, it’s time you find out why these little bugs are the most important thing you should have in your garden.

Rollie Pollies, more commonly known as woodlice or pill-bugs aren’t really bugs at all, they are classified as crustaceans alike to crabs, lobsters and shrimp who breath through gills and have blue blood.

They love feeding on decaying matter and swarm to moist environments to sustain them.

Compost piles and dead leaves is where you are most likely to find these little critters, but be careful not to unleash them at the beginning of the season, they are known to eat fresh fruits and veggies if there isn’t an abundance of decay, fungus or mold.

These pill bugs along with earthworms, snails and millipedes are the most important creatures, attributed with large scale decomposing of fauna and therefor are crucial in a mature garden to speed up decomposition and recirculate the soil.

Along with this essential role, they are also known as one of the very few who have the ability to remove heavy metal contamination from soil by ingesting through the mid gut.

Since they do not urinate and eat their own feces, pill bugs in large quantities can completely remediate any soil and protect groundwater contamination from toxic metal ions such as with copper, zinc, lead or cadmium, stabilizing the soil and leaving it in pristine condition.

Source:

http://www3.northern.edu/natsource/INVERT1/Pillbu1.htm

http://insects.about.com/od/isopods/a/10-facts-pillbugs.htm