of Rhode Island GreenShare Factsheets Centipedes, Sowbugs &
Pillbugs Occasionally millipedes, sowbugs, pillbugs and
centipedes may be found in moist areas of the home, in rotting
wood or under piles of moist debris in basements, near patio
doors and in garages. None of them are true insects, but they
belong to the class Crustacea, a closely related group of
arthropods. Centipedes, sowbugs, pillbugs and millipedes are all
primarily nocturnal, avoiding light. They are fairly common out-
of-doors and may be seen near foundation walls, under logs, in
piles of leaves and in gardens. Occasionally large numbers of
millipedes leave the soil and crawl onto and into (if there are
openings through which they can enter) houses where they may be
an extreme nuisance to home dwellers. In a few instances
invasions have been noted after periods of extremely wet weather
and persist for a few weeks or until cold weather Millipedes
("thousand leggers") have elongated, segmented worm-like bodies
with short antennae and two pairs o