Current Situation
A massive outbreak was confirmed again this year. I had heard that millipedes tend to move around unpredictably, so I was hoping they would relocate somewhere else, but that hope wasn’t fulfilled.
On my first visit in three weeks, this is what the entrance looked like. Huge numbers of millipedes had gathered there.
Millipedes seem to prefer concrete and mortar.
Last time I spread a powdered insecticide, but it doesn’t seem to have had much effect on the millipedes.
Many of them are also getting inside the house.
Here are the dead millipedes I collected from the first-floor living/dining/kitchen area.
Here are the dead millipedes I collected from the Japanese-style tatami room.
Countermeasures We Tried
I moved the trees I had cut down out back to a different spot.
Airflow improved, and the leaves that millipedes feed on are gone. There are still plenty of leaves on the surface of the soil, though, and if you turn them over you’ll find lots of live millipedes.
I tried applying aluminum tape to part of the entrance. This should keep the millipedes from climbing up. If it works, I plan to apply it around the whole perimeter of the house.
With this, they should no longer be able to climb onto the step in front of the entrance.
