Lawn shrimps are usually encountered in moist areas when we lift a stone or similar object and they make frantic moves to hide. They are amphipod crustaceans about one centimetre long in the Family Talitridae. They native to Australia and New Zealand and were first documented in the Isles of Scilly before being found on the British mainland in the 1920s. They are now naturalised throughout the British Isles.
In a similar manner to the other crustacean, the Woodlouse, also found in abundance in the garden, the female produces live young which grow by shedding their exoskeleton.
They are not usually a problem and are involved in the primary breakdown of organic matter such as dead leaves to smaller particles in a similar way as Woodlice and Millipedes.
They require moist conditions with cover such as under pots or debris. Clear away debris to discourage the lawn shrimps from gathering.
