Hi, Bizarre this but keep with me! It sounds like a joke but its not. We have a problem with woodlice! Our loft seems to be full of them. They congregate on the loft hatch. Whenever you drop the loft hatch down showers of dead woodlice fall out. There seems to be no evidence of any in the loft elsewhere and the hatch has an insulated polystyrene backing... Could it be to do with moss on the roof. Any advice? Thanks, Matthew
It could be but you'll never know. Woodlice are great opportunists. I found one in the sitting room yesterday, there's nothing for them there!
They're not insects, by the way, they're crustaceans - like lobseters :-)
And they're not a problem. They're obviously not finding anything to eat if they're dead when you see them.
Mary
>"Mary Fisher" wrote
So why would so many woodlice make the journey up there if there's no food or other enticement?
Phil
For the same reason that so many people use the London Underground every day.
It's in their genes
They seem to search wherever they can get, they might be on the roof but sheltering from rain ... how would I know - many think I'm lower than pond life (although I don't know that pond life is particularly low) - so I can't be expected to know everything :-)
Have you made any suggestions to the poster?
Mary
Are the def woodlice and not earwigs?
Ah, you must have one of those woodlice eating spiders nesting above your loft hatch then. They hunt woodlice, take them back to their nest, and suck the juice out. Tastes a bit like lobster, so we're told. The carcasses are just discarded, onto your hatch. Sometimes the spider uses the shells as shoes so she can hunt her prey without being detected.
Just be grateful its not an elephants grave yard.
Don't be daft - how would elephants get into the loft?
Mary
Much more common at ground level in my experience.
They basically eat damp wood, so I reckon you've got some up there somewhere, and I would regard that as bad news.
An elephant at birth is only about 3' long, and weighs about 14 st, so would probably fit through a generously-proportioned loft hatch.
Owain
and of course the good news is they don't sting or bite and squash easily.
But it needs its mother ...
Mary
True, oh wise one.
You'd have to put the mother[1] up in the loft like a water tank, before the roof goes on.
Owain
[1] Or an "aunty" - elephants will look after and suckle others' calves
Ah! I knew someone round here would have the answer.
Yes - if they're in milk. As used to humans - some still do.
Mary
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