How to Get Rid of Pill Bugs

September 19th, 2008 Posted in Ornamental & Lawn Pests


They have been given cute nicknames, such as “roly poly”, “potato bug”, and “doodlebug;” you may have seen them portrayed as friendly characters in Disney/Pixar’s A Bug’s Life. Many people even spot them and pick them up without hesitation, just to see them curl up into a ball, their famous defensive posture. But do not be fooled by any of this!

These creatures are Armadillidiidae, better known as Pill bugs, and Pill Bugs are PESTS—effective pests, since they have no specialized predators.

Watch the following video to check out this pest in action:

This article will answer the following:

  • How do pill bugs thrive?

  • How do you get rid of pill bugs?



How Do Pill Bugs Thrive?

What They Eat:

  • Dead and decaying animals or plants, but will eat some live, tender plants

  • Fungi

  • Wood mulch

(Hopefully none of these things are just lying in your house somewhere…)

Where they live:

Pill Bugs prefer dark and moist places to live such as in soil or under rocks. When inside of a house, they frequently die due to the lack of moisture. However, if they do thrive, there may be a serious moisture problem within the household.




How to Get Rid of Pill Bugs

Pill Bugs can be cute, but in the house they can be a serious annoyance.

First, you should try to figure out why your house is conducive for a pill bug’s lifestyle; either you need to tidy up your home, or your home has a moisture problem, as aforementioned.

If these two things aren’t the case, then here are other options to get rid of pill bugs:

  • Remove all of the excess vegetation and debris from around your house to remove the food source.

  • Control with outdoor insecticide applications around the foundation of the building.

  • Apply insecticide in infested areas.

Conventional Insecticides:
There are a variety of chemical products you can use, including liquids, aerosols and granules.

Whatever you choose, it is important to read the label carefully and use only as directed; since these products use synthetic chemicals as their active ingredient, they can be harmful if they come in contact with or are ingested by mammals.

So, anyone with pets or children might not want to use these products around their home or in their garden. The other problem with chemical insecticides is that they are typically not environmental-friendly.

Natural Insecticides:
Try using Diatomaceous earth, a mildy abrasive, white, powdery substance. Spread around the perimeter of the house and around the garden.

Once it comes in contact with insects, the powder absorbs the lipids from the cuticle of insects’ exoskeletons; this dehydrates them, thus killing them. The powder also rubs easily onto the insects, so the effectiveness of diatomaceous earth is pretty high.

However, Diatomaceous earth can be harmful to humans. Not only can it severely dry human skin if one gets in direct contact with the material, but it can also be harmful to breathe in.




EcoSMART natural insecticides are another method of getting rid of pill bugs.

For households with children or pets (and even you bachelors and bachelorettes out there), this product is environmentally safe, non-hazardous and highly effective. EcoSMART’s advanced technology is based on the natural defenses that plants and trees use for their self-protection against insects and pathogens.

To see how well EcoSMART works, watch the following video:

After over a decade of research, EcoSMART harnessed this power in revolutionary organic insecticide alternatives to conventional insecticides.

Kind of makes you wonder why this wasn’t at the top of the list of ways to kill pill bugs, huh? (Well, maybe some people might be into the whole “nuke my whole house and garden with no regard for the rest of the planet” thing.) But if re-enacting Terminator 2 isn’t what you had in mind to take care of a bug problem, EcoSMART is the best choice. Try EcoSMART today to get rid of pill bugs.

Author, Richan Gaskins

  1. 37 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers!

  2. By Megan on Nov 3, 2008

    Will these products kill the plants I have in my house? One specific houseplant of mine has brought them in. I’ve only seen one full-sized one, though.

  3. By bill wilson on Mar 13, 2009

    Hello,
    Which EcoSMART product do you recommend for getting rid of pill bugs. Is it available in the Indianapolis area?
    Our house is on a slab. We installed a laminate floor in our daughters room 2 years ago and now I can walk in her room anytime and find 4 or 5.
    Thanks for your time. Bill

  4. By Hung vo on Mar 17, 2009

    I think I have pill bugs at my home,but the shells doesn’t look as tough and thick,its like furry looking grayish,white pattern,is it the same family as a pill bug or is it different ? Please help me.

  5. By EcoSMART Alyse on Mar 25, 2009

    Bill Wilson,

    EcoSMART’s Home Pest Control will take care of those pill bugs – you can buy it right on our website at http://www.ecosmart.com

    Goodluck!

  6. By EcoSMART Alyse on Mar 25, 2009

    Hung vo,

    There are different species of pill bugs in existence, and it sounds like you could possibly have Silverfish.

    Either way, EcoSMART’s Home Pest Control can help!

    Take care.

  7. By Melissa on Apr 11, 2009

    Hi,
    I need help…I’m having a pillbug invasion. I live in an relatively new appartment (I’m currently at college) and pillbugs are just comming in everywhere. At night they COVER my patio and push their way throuh the slider door and entry way…I do not have a moisture problem in the house and there is no excess debree outside so I’m at a loss. I want something that I can spray around my doors that will last and keep them out.

    Melissa

  8. By Deanne Dawe on Apr 15, 2009

    Great website lots of information regarding the bug and lots of other ways to help prevent the bugs in the house…I like that the product is not being pushed on consumers to buy I like that and I will most differently try this product out….i first have to find a place that carries the product….i also have a dog so this is prefect for me…..also I enjoyed the little clips very entertaining and informal ….great job :)
    Dee

  9. By D on Apr 15, 2009

    How do i delete a post that posted??

  10. By John on Apr 23, 2009

    I’ve used ECO Smart to stop an Ant invasion quite successfully… Over the last few months, I’ve been invaded by Argentine Ants. They’re everywhere, and have invaded my pantry and my kids’ rooms several times. The Ecosmart kills the visible ones and repels the rest for 10 days or so. The smell is not unpleasant and I’m not worried about damaging my children!

    Now if they only had an Eco-Smart powder that was long-lasting, or a fogger for fleas, I’d be set!

  11. By vicki rasch on Apr 26, 2009

    great source of info – thank you

  12. By Duchess on May 13, 2009

    The little video clips are great! My Alaskan hubby didn’t believe me when I told him that pillbugs are related to crabs and lobsters, but now he does! We have a terrible invasion of the little critters right now and on our tile floors the ‘crunch’ under our feet is horrible. Every day for the past week I sweep them up and even more replace them. They are starting to appear on higher surfaces. HELP!

  13. By Smalls on May 14, 2009

    I have a small atrium in the middle of my home and it is moist and has a lot of vegetation and it’s infested. My situation is, I have a 6 month old tortoise (tiny) that I keep in the atrium. Will your EcoSMART product dehydrate her like it did the pill bug in the video? I understand my cat will be safe from your product, but because the tortoise absorbs water and moisture differently, will it hurt her?

    If someone could contact me … I would really appreciate it. Thanks!!

  14. By MC on May 20, 2009

    Pill bugs are harmless, beneficial insects that make good subjects for animal behavior experiments. Consider just living with them.

    I intend to try EcoSMART on my houseplants to kill scale insects, but I will use it indoors only because I don’t want to kill the bees. Our pollinators are being decimated and they are an essential element in the ecosystem.

  15. By MC on May 20, 2009

    Oops! Correction. They are not insects, they are crustaceans. OK, if they are actually eating your plants you want to get rid of them, but if they are in your compost pile they are just doing their job.

  16. By Jill Bosworth on May 24, 2009

    I have pill bugs infesting my raised garden beds and the bark mulch that surrounds them. How do you apply the product to get to all the bugs under the soil and mulch? Do you need to rake it up before application? Also, do suggest the Garden Insect Killer product or the Home Pest Control product for me?

    I also had problems with powdery mildew last year, which wiped out half my garden. When do you suggest I apply the Garden Fungicide? Before the mildew even starts?

    Thanks much! I’m very excited to find a product that is safe for my children, my dog, and me!

  17. By TL on Jun 29, 2009

    I am excited to see if this works! I have pill bugs in my basement and they are driving me crazy. I think I may also need a dehumidifier.

  18. By Jeff on Jul 1, 2009

    Hi,
    I have a problem will pill bugs in my house. I have used the home defense product and it kept them away for a while but now they are slowly but surely coming back. I have sealed up all possible cracks that i could see or find but now there coming back. What can i do?

  19. By AJacobsen on Jul 10, 2009

    We have a horrible pill bug problem, but we live in hot, dry Arizona!! We do have a lot of plants growing in our entryway up to our front door (outside), so that would be the only explanation. Problem is they keep wandering in through a small crack under the front door, and I’m constantly vacuuming up dead ones, or picking up the live ones and tossing them back outside!! Urg!
    I’d love to try EcoSMART!

  20. By Diane W on Jul 10, 2009

    I like the pill bugs,especially after that cute clip, but I would like to spray around where we are building one deck as a preventative measure before we sit out there. It sits low and is shaded so they are all over the soil there.
    It would be nice to spray before we eat or have company to keep the little buggers away.

  21. By cduprey on Jul 11, 2009

    I have them in my potatos and they’re killing the plants. How do I get rid of them without hurting the potatoes? Or is the year’s crop a gonner?

  22. By Valerie Dennis on Jul 12, 2009

    This has been most helpful. I will check out the products. These little monsters are eating all the tomatoes as they ripen.

  23. By tiana krahn on Jul 12, 2009

    Is this product safe to use on my organic vegetable garden?
    love the video!

  24. By Sean on Jul 13, 2009

    I’ve been noticing pill bugs in my house. (I just bought it a month ago.) I started noticing a smell that reminded me of when I had a tarantula and the box of crickets was getting old and decaying. The smell was coming from the carpet which is nasty and needs replaced anyway, so I figured it may have been soiled by the previous owners cat. However, today I pulled back some carpet to run speaker wire along the baseboard and there were pill bug carcasses half-decayed and lining the entire wall! It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen! They are underneath the carpet along all the outside walls of the house and even along some inside ones. I’m afraid to pull carpet back completely for fear that I’d find I’m walking on them! Please help!

  25. By Glenn Johnson on Jul 16, 2009

    I went on vacation for 7 days and when I returned, I had 5000 pill bugs dead on all the tiles throughout my house. They came in through the door trim that had pulled away. They were only found on the tiles in each bathroom, kitchen, dining room, foyer and not one on the carpet.. Why is that.. Anyways, I need a product to get rid of the rest of them.. Thanks..

  26. By Yukiko on Jul 21, 2009

    I have tons of pill bugs that are eating my infant squash before they can even ripen. We’d love to enjoy some of that squash ourselves this summer. They are all over the place. My son (20 mos.) love to squish them as they crawl across our patio. I hate the idea of using pesticides though.

  27. By Deborah on Jul 30, 2009

    I have a pill bug problem around the outside of my house. I don’t want to use poison, because of my family and pets. I hope that your product works.

  28. By B.Ward on Aug 7, 2009

    I would like to try this product we keep getting these in our basement. some of them are fairly big.

  29. By Stefanie Schmidt on Aug 11, 2009

    Great advice on debugging your home and I love your products!

  30. By David Mann on Aug 13, 2009

    I live in a basement apartment and these little guys get trapped at the bottom of the stairs by my front door. I hope to be able to make a barrier to prevent this from happening.

  31. By J Markiewicz on Aug 23, 2009

    Just bought this raised ranch and found that I have a baby spider problem. Found several baby spiders parachuting all over the place using the ceiling fan to launch them. After some contemplation and research I found that spiders don’t stay anywhere unless there’s food. After about a month or so I found there also seems to be a Pill Bug problem in the basement. Constantly finding them roaming around. Noticed others with raised ranches have similar problems. Very humid in finished basement and it’s attached directly to the garage with ground level doors. Maybe the spiders are sustaining themselves on the Pill Bugs…? Either way, I don’t want any of them here.

  32. By Lilah on Sep 30, 2009

    I appreciate the very useful information. I’m buying a home that appears to be infested with pill bugs. I would like to take care of the problem before moving in.

  33. By Malissa on Oct 9, 2009

    I have a brand new house and now that everything is settling, I have small cracks between the tile and the floor board and the pill bugs are getting in my house! Help!!!

  34. By Karen on Oct 21, 2009

    Last winter when I brought my houseplants back inside there were pillbugs in the soil. I think they ate the roots of one of my plants–it seemed to die for no reason and when I lifted it out there were a bunch of pillbugs. How do I use your product in the soil of my houseplants without hurting the plant? Can I flush it through with water before I bring the plant inside? Thanks so much.

  35. By Jessie Miller on Oct 30, 2009

    I have a huge pill bug problem!! It has been a very damp year for us in Kentucky and I have them all over my basement!! I am looking for some way to get rid of them and keep them from comming back!! Help me find a location to try your product, I am at my wits end!!

  36. By Vivian on Nov 2, 2009

    Thanks goodness I found this website! I have been bothered by the Pillbugs since moved to my new place. Everyday I can find at least 4-5 dead pillbugs on my lower level space, where the carpet throughout with no plants (it is the garden level though). Sometimes, can see live pillbugs also, but so far only see them on the lower level. Please help us, to get rid of them – SOS! Thank you very mcuh in advance

  37. By DeAnn singh on Dec 17, 2009

    Pill bugs ate the roots to my 85 year old zygocactus. I’ve had to pull what’s left of anything alive and start propogating them again. But I’d like to get rid of the the bugs so I can replant into the pot. I have it sitting on the porch of my Los Angeles home. Under the pot was a colony of the little buggers.

  38. By Tom Davis on Jan 27, 2010

    I have a pill bug infestation in my house plants. How do I get rid of them without harming my plants? Please help.

37 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers! (details)