Sow Bugs
July 1, 2001

A brief search under boards or in damp basement corners is likely to result in seeing small, grayish, flattened creatures using their seven pairs of legs to scurry out of sight. The creatures are commonly known as SOW BUGS, and are likely to elicit an "Ugh." It is this reaction that makes one overlook their interesting charactistics.

Sow bugs are confusingly, and interchangeably, called wood lice, pill bugs, and slaters. Generally listed under the term "wood louse", in reference materials, the sow bug is a wood louse that doesn't curl into a ball, while a pill bug is noted for its ability to curl up into a ball. A pill bug is noted for its ability to present an "armadillo-like exterior to those who might molest it." In this curled position it is said to have
once been used as a ready-made pill.

Sow bugs belong to the large category of animals that have jointed legs, the Arthropods. They are related to the crabs,crayfish and lobsters, grouped in a class labeled as Crustaceans and belong to the order of isopods. Most isopods live in water. The sow bugs and their immediate relatives have become adapted to living on land. Land animals generally have lungs. Sow bugs, however, have retained gill-like structures and need a moist habitat.

To allow less opportunity for evaporation to occur from the surface of their bodies they congregate in groups. Research has found that when the humidity is high sow bugs move slowly, in circles, keeping them in about the same spot. They tend to avoid light. If the spot should dry up they start to move out to the open to find another moist spot. Personal observation of a "pet" sow bug found that it was active in a dry environment but became uninterestingly quiet when given moisture.

Female sow bugs carry their eggs and young in a pouch located under the Fairport of the body. The young stay in the pouch until ready to fend for themselves. They look much like the adults except for size. They shed their old shells to make room for growth. Where large groups of sow bugs congregate,the white porcelain discarded shells may be found.

Sow bugs have been used as subjects in research related to learning. They have been trained to follow a maze by being punished by exposure to light and rewarded by darkness. The participants were kept in coffee cans partly filled with sand and peat moss. A raw potato was provided for food and a damp sponge for moisture. It is a means of research that does not injure the animal.

Sow bugs and other kinds of wood lice feed on decaying vegetable or animal matter. Bacteria in the intestines aid in the digestion of cellulose. Some kinds may be greenhouse pests as they feed on roots of plants. Traps made by hollowing out apples or potatoes may be used to catch them. How about collecting a few "pets" for interesting observations?