Millipede Invasion! argh!

General Questions
#1

I have read a number of websites and things on this, but unsatisfied, I decided to try the StraightDope Forum Brains Trust :slight_smile:

I live on a hobby farm, and am inundated by Portuguese Millipedes, and I HATE THEM! they get inside the house everywhere, and stink and bleaurgh.

the main solutions I have found seem to be:

Destroy their nests/breeding environment. - No good, it’s a hobby farm, there’s lawn, paddocks, bush, forest, you name it. Too many places for them to breed :frowning:

Spray poisonous crap everywhere. - No good, kids, pets, animals, food bearing plants everywhere.

mmm, that’s pretty much it. I found a solution with a light over a bowl of water, that supposedly attracts the millipedes then they fall in the water and die.

however, we have solar powered garden lights, and I have never noticed a greater concentration of millipedes near the lights than anywhere else, although admittedly, the lights are not that bright.

final thought was painting that sticky stuff that is supposed to trap spiders, around the house, but this seems an inelegant and labor intensive process to set up and clean every day.

so. pleeeeeaaaaaseeee someone tell me there is a good solution (and what it is).
:slight_smile:

#2

I have no clue except to suggest you figure out what their natural predators are and get some of those around the place. Of course depending on the predator the cure might be worse than the original problem.

Otherwise figure out what they like to eat and try and make “honey pots” that attract them and trap them. Again, no idea what they eat and if they can sense yummy things at a distance or just eat what they wander across.

Just some random ideas that occurred to me.

#3

clean a wide barrier strip around the house. keep it very short grass or sand, let it get sun and wind and dry it out. keep leaf litter away from house. keep the house foundation from staying in shade.

#4

Spread diatomaceous earth liberally around the foundation all the way around the house. Will not have any immediate effect but will eventually kill them all.

#5

Why is that a problem? You already wash your children with far more toxic substances, and your bought food is already treated with far more toxic substances.

#6

Just get a bunch of lemurs. Come back when you have a lemur infestation.

I’d rather have millipedes than centipedes. At least you can pick up the former without worrying about having them take a chunk out of your hand.

#7

thanks guys, I’ll try the sand & or dichotomous earth and see if it helps.

blake: rain water in Australia, esp in the hills region is very clean and pure, and growing our own food without nasty chemicals is something we try to do. (as well as not buying any food grown overseas esp china). thanks for the concern tho :wink:

a bunch of high lemurs sounds like fun too :slight_smile:

#8

DE is a great suggestion, but remember it doesn’t work once it gets wet. Also it will kill anything with an exoskeleton, so if you got good bugs like bees, it’ll kill them as well.

When applying DE us just a dusting. If you use a heap the bugs crawl around it. The idea is to get them to crawl through it.

And finally make sure you buy FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth. The POOL GRADE DE is harmful to people. The FOOD GRADE is safe.