Woodlice in the apartment: how to get rid of it, effective methods of control

Reasons for appearing in the apartment

Woodlice live in damp places in the house: in the basement, in the attic, between walls where moisture accumulates. The main reasons that they move into a person’s home:

Attractive living conditions in the bathroom (temperature over +20°C, humidity and dirt). Arthropods are happy to leave the basement and come to live in the bathtub or toilet.
Disinfection of basements or attics. If sanitary treatment is carried out in the favorite habitats of woodlice, they crawl into apartments and settle in the most humid and warm places (bath, toilet or kitchen). This is how they save their population.
Woodlice can be brought into the apartment if you bring vegetables from the basement, especially kale. They easily hide among the leaves and then crawl out.
Woodlice often appear if there is a grocery store on the ground floor of a residential building.

At first glance, woodlice are slow and clumsy. This is completely wrong! In one night, these arthropods can climb several floors until they find a suitable shelter.

These crustaceans are completely harmless to humans, but their appearance is unpleasant...

Causes

Despite the ability to live on land, woodlice prefers places with high humidity and settles where there is dampness. She can live:

in cellars and basements;
under boulders and fallen trees;
In bathroom;
in the toilet;
in cracks in masonry.

Note! Of the variety of woodlice recorded by scientists, only a few species survive without a source of constant dampness. The rest quickly die or look for another place to live.

Methods for controlling woodlice in an apartment

You can get rid of wood lice in the house yourself, using improvised or special means. Before starting a large-scale operation against insects, it is necessary to block their access to the premises and create unfavorable living conditions.

To this end, perform the following algorithm of actions:

Block access to insects - close ventilation holes, seal cracks, check the secure fit of doors leading to the basement or attic.
Create unfavorable living conditions - get rid of high humidity and dampness, repair leaking pipes and plumbing, ventilate and dry the room well.
Deprive insects of a source of food - remove indoor plants from the apartment for a while, securely hide vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Before returning the flowers to the house, replant them in new soil.
Disinfest the premises to eliminate pests. Use folk or chemical remedies for this purpose.
Perform pest control in the basement or attic, otherwise there is a high probability that the insects will return to the house.

The first step in the fight against crustaceans is to eliminate the causes of high humidity in the apartment - fixing the tap, checking ventilation, removing stagnant liquid

Folk remedies against pests

You can cope with pests using improvised means. Their main advantages are complete safety for humans and pets, accessibility and ease of use.

Effective ways to control insects in an apartment:

prepare a solution using 3 g each of red pepper, tobacco, soda and 1 liter of water. Spray the resulting product into areas where wood lice accumulate, and after 6-8 hours, wash it off with a chlorine-containing solution;
Wash all surfaces where insects are found with a solution of chlorine or vinegar. The pungent odor will repel pests and prevent their occurrence in the future;
Dissolve 100 g of alum in half a liter of water and use the resulting solution to treat insect habitats;
scatter boric acid around the room or treat the surfaces with a solution prepared from 10 g of the product and 10 liters of water;
dissolve dry kvass in boiling water in a ratio of 1:5 and treat the insect habitat with the resulting solution;
place balls made from eggs, boric acid powder and semolina in places where beetles accumulate.

An effective remedy for woodlice control is table salt. Just sprinkle it in pest habitats and leave it for a few days

Homemade traps will help you get rid of woodlice. A simple option is to cut small holes in the potato tuber and leave it overnight. The beetles will crawl to the smell of the juice, climb inside and in the morning you can throw them out along with the bait.

You can make a trap from birch branches. Place them in the bathroom, kitchen and toilet at night, and in the morning throw them away along with the bugs that have crawled onto the leaves.

How to get rid of wood lice using chemicals

Chemical agents will help quickly remove crustaceans. They differ in release form, composition and method of action. For ease of perception, all information is collected in a table:

Release form	Facilities	Features of application
Concentrate for preparing the solution	“Taran”, “Xulat Micro”, “Tetrix”, “Tsifoks”, “Lambda Zone”	Concentrated insecticidal agents are used to prepare a solution that is sprayed in the pest habitat
Pencils and crayons	"Mashenka", "Titanic"	Using chalk or pencil, small lines are drawn in potentially dangerous areas. Insects die after crossing the line. A penciled perimeter around vents or cracks will prevent pests from entering your home.
Aerosols	"Raptor", "Dichlorvos", "Combat Suprspray"	The product is sprayed in places where insects accumulate. Effective in the bathroom, toilet, kitchen, as soon as pests begin to appear. Aerosols are not suitable for pest control in basements or outdoors.
Powder	"Clean House", "Neopin", "Phenaxin"	The product is scattered around the perimeter of the room, under the baseboards, near the windowsill and in other possible insect habitats.
Sticky traps	"Agrus", "Raptor", "Global"	They are effective in catching single insects and are used primarily for prevention

When working with insecticides, observe the following precautions:

carefully read the instructions, rules of use and precautions; when spraying aerosols or solutions, use a respirator and gloves; After using chemicals, wash your hands thoroughly; do not use insecticides in the presence of children or pets; After eliminating pests, carry out a thorough general cleaning.

How to fight

To combat woodlice at home, many methods have been developed, among which the most effective are:

general cleaning of the premises;
eliminating leaks in the house;
monitoring the condition of flower pots;
ventilation check;
getting rid of cracks in the building.

spring-cleaning

The best way to get rid of insects and restore order in the house is general cleaning. It makes it possible to eliminate pockets of dampness in the room and limit access to nutrients, which include various biological debris that accumulates in the room. During cleaning, it is a good idea to ventilate the apartment, which will help get rid of excess humidity.

Repair of all devices from which water leaks

A faucet in the kitchen that is constantly dripping, a leaking pipe, a faulty drain tank - all these are sources of additional dampness in the house. When they are eliminated, the air becomes much drier, and woodlice are no longer so comfortable living in the apartment.

Flower pots

The abundance of flowers in the apartment, especially if they are often watered, creates a comfortable living environment for our “tenants”. To avoid such a situation, you should be careful about caring for indoor pots and the soil with which they are filled.

Ventilation

Cleaning ventilation is a problematic task, because you won’t be able to get deep into it. However, periodic cleaning of the space in front of the entrance to the ventilation shaft will significantly reduce the risk of woodlice appearing in your house or apartment.

Cracks

The walls and foundation of a building deteriorate over time and cracks form. Uninvited guests enter the room through them. To prevent this, it is enough to monitor the condition of the living space, eliminating cracks if they appear. This will not take much time, but will help avoid a lot of troubles in the future.

Note! Taken together, all of the methods listed above help maintain a favorable environment in the house, which woodlice and other pests really don’t like.

Folk remedies

It has already been said above that woodlice are not insects, but small crustaceans. Despite their belonging to the crustacean species, they are susceptible to the same drugs as common household pests. They eat some poisoned baits much more readily than many insects.

Before getting rid of woodlice in the house, you should familiarize yourself with the list of products that can help in pest control. The following types of insecticides can be found on sale:

Aerosols in cans, useful for use in small spaces. They are not suitable for a large basement or cellar, since too many of them will be required. In addition, they do not have a prolonged action. Among this range of products, aerosols such as “Combat” and “Raptor” are popular. Dichlorvos (its various brands) is also used;
Insecticide concentrates in the form of sprays. This highly effective woodlice repellent allows you to destroy pests over a large area. Their feature is the absence of odor and prolonged action. The most famous sprays are “Delta Zon” and “Xulat Micro”. They are produced both specifically for pest control services and for household use in small packaging;
Powders and white crayons for cockroaches. More often they are used as auxiliary measures. However, crayons are a good way to control insects on vertical surfaces;
Gels and sticky traps. Ineffective means that can serve as an additional measure for the destruction of pests;
Poisoned baits made from human food. The best known is a mixture of egg yolks and boric acid. It helps quite well in the fight against woodlice, but the yolk works much more effectively when mixed with concentrated insecticides.

If wood lice have infested your apartment, you can also use chemicals to combat them. Many of them have an immediate effect, but are not safe for human health.

Aerosols

The use of aerosol agents is advisable in cases where wood lice are not very common and live in small rooms. To treat a private home or a large basement, one can of aerosol is simply not enough. As a result, you will need a considerable amount of money to purchase an anti-wood lice product.

Aerosols against woodlice

Concentrates

There are insecticidal concentrates, the advantage of which is not only a high level of effectiveness, but also significant cost-effectiveness in use. This makes it possible to process large rooms at low financial costs. Tetrix, Get, Cucaracha, Tarax or Tsifox - this is what you can use to remove woodlice quickly and forever.

Powders

Many people who have woodlice in their apartment use powdered insecticides Riapan, Clean House, Fenaxin and others to destroy them. But such drugs are preferable to be used as an adjuvant in addition to other methods of control.

The principle of application is quite simple: the poison is sprinkled on the baseboards around the perimeter of the room, and the product is also sprinkled under the bathtub. However, not all woodlice will crawl along such floor markings; some of them can move along walls. As a result, the insecticidal composition simply will not work on them.

Pencils

Woodlice chalks

Insecticidal crayons or pencils like Mashenka, Titanic are something that can be used to poison woodlice in an apartment quite easily and quickly. Crustaceans are much more vulnerable to this means of control than cockroaches, since a larger amount of poison sticks to their flat, segmented bodies. In addition, crayons are convenient for use on vertical surfaces.

Insecticidal gels have a similar effect. Such means are used to bait not only cockroaches and ants, but also woodlice. The long period of onset of action is a disadvantage of this product. The following brands are especially popular: Absolut, Fas, Cleanbait.

Woodlice gels

Traps

Sticky traps can also be used as a preventive measure to combat woodlice in an apartment. They are less effective than the above drugs, so they are only suitable for catching individual individuals. Global, Agrus, Raptor are some of the most popular brands among buyers.

Lures

You can get rid of woodlice in your apartment using poisoned baits. To prepare them, you need to mix the egg yolk with a concentrated insecticidal preparation such as Lambda Zone, Xulat Micro or Delta Zone in accordance with the instructions.

Tools Overview

If conventional methods do not help, special tools come to the rescue. They are designed for pest control and help owners kill parasitic insects. The means are:

chemical;
made independently, based on folk recipes.

Chemicals

Advantages of treating premises with chemical protective agents:

high efficiency;
performance;
ease of use.

Minuses:

contain harmful substances that negatively affect not only woodlice, but also the health of others;
price.

If you are a supporter of radical measures, pay attention to the following drugs.

Insecticidal aerosols

Chemicals that are sprayed into the air using a spray can. Advantages of use:

act quickly;
work well against small clusters of insects;
effective in small spaces.

Concentrated sprays

Concentrated sprays are more effective than aerosols and can clear even large rooms of woodlice. You determine the dosage yourself, which increases the effectiveness of the product. The disadvantage is considered to be increased toxicity and the need to comply with safety regulations. It is highly undesirable to work with concentrates without chemical protective equipment.

Insecticidal powders

Insecticidal powders show good results in the fight against insects, having the following advantages:

ease of use;
acceptable price;
efficiency.

The disadvantages include:

principle of using powder. The fact is that it can only be poured around the perimeter of the room or in the place of the greatest concentration of insects, but wood lice move not only along the floor. The ceiling and walls are no less attractive for them, which leaves freedom for maneuver.

Crayons

An improved option compared to powders, allowing poison to be applied not only to the floor, but also to the walls of the building. It is enough to circle with chalk the supposed place of entry of insects, and the poison will complete the rest of the work. The chalk is easy to use and is not as harmful to others as the spray. If you don’t put it in your mouth and wash your hands after disinfection measures, you are completely safe.

Sticky insect traps

Traps cope well with small colonies that have not had time to thoroughly establish themselves in your apartment. Large colonies are less susceptible to such disinfestation methods, which makes these means not so attractive compared to others. Traps are good as an auxiliary tool, combined with a more serious option.

Fumigator

The main targets of fumigators are flying insects that disturb the owners of the apartment. However, there are some drugs that help get rid of woodlice. When using them, carefully read the instructions for use and do not engage in amateur activities. Otherwise, your health and the health of others may suffer.

Traditional methods

If chemistry is not to your liking, folk remedies come to the rescue. They are less efficient, but more environmentally friendly. The costs of creating folk remedies are significantly lower, which helps save the budget. Among the effective recipes, tested by more than one generation of citizens, are:

use of boric acid;
creation of a drug based on kvass;
use of salt;
birch leaves;
water and chlorine;
mixtures of tobacco, pepper and salt;
temperature effects on insects.

Each method has its pros and cons, which should be discussed separately.

Liquid composition of kvass

To prepare the medicine you will need:

50 grams of powdered bread kvass;
200 milliliters of liquid.

Mix the ingredients and pour them into a spray bottle. We determine the place where wood lice accumulate and spray the resulting medicine there.

Boric acid

Ingredients for the solution:

water - one liter;
boric acid (powder) – 20 grams.

We mix them and treat the resulting liquid where insects appear. If necessary, repeat the procedure again. In most cases, a one-time use of a folk remedy is enough.

A mixture of soda, tobacco and pepper

Take one teaspoon each of tobacco, pepper and soda. Place a saucepan on the fire and heat one liter of water to a boil. As soon as the water boils, add the ingredients and remove from the heat. Let it sit for a couple of hours, after which we treat the areas where wood lice accumulate. We mark several scratches, after which we wash the treated areas with water and chlorine.

Salt

You don't always have pepper or tobacco on hand. In this case, ordinary salt, which is found in every apartment, will help you out. Just sprinkle it on areas with a lot of dampness. Salt, due to its properties, absorbs excess moisture, thereby depriving woodlice of a comfortable habitat. Treat all damp areas this way, and the woodlice will leave your house on their own.

Remember: the product is budgetary, this affects its effectiveness.

Birch brooms

Birch brooms work like sticky traps. Their scent attracts woodlice, and they try to climb onto leaves and branches. It is enough to leave a couple of brooms in places where insects appear overnight, and in the morning destroy them or take them away from the house.

Potato

Another bait that attracts woodlice from all corners of the apartment. Algorithm of actions:

peel the potato tuber;
cut it into equal halves;
Use a spoon to make indentations in the center;
put potatoes in places where wood lice appear;
At night they crawl into the recess, and you will have to throw them out into the street, away from the house.

Lime

Effective treatment:

garage;
basement;
storage rooms.

Pour quicklime into a bucket and leave it indoors for 12 hours. During this time, entry into the premises is prohibited. Keep household members and pets away.

Water and chlorine

Dilute 20 grams of bleach in 500 milliliters of water. We wipe the floor and walls of the room with the resulting solution.

Note! When processing the premises, wear personal protective equipment. Without them, working with chlorine is prohibited.

Temperature effect

When exposed to high temperatures, woodlice quickly die. It is enough to blow on them with a hairdryer at full power, and they will begin to die. The method is not the most convenient and effective, but in the absence of other alternatives, it can help cope with the invasion of the “enemy”.

Step-by-step instructions on how to get rid of it at home

Let's take a closer look at how and with what you can kill these arthropods in order to remove them from your home forever.

Chemicals

The following types of chemicals can be used against woodlice:

Aerosols. It is advisable to use them in the case of a slight spread of woodlice and their habitat in small areas, otherwise one can of the product will not be enough, and treating the room will result in a fairly large amount of money. The most popular means:
"Raptor" (about 200 rubles);
“Varan” (45-100 rubles).
Concentrates. Suitable for treating large spaces, being highly efficient and economical. The most common drugs:
“Get” (from 400 to 1000 rubles);
“Cucaracha” (from 400 to 1500 rubles).
Powders. “Phenaxin” (20-50 rubles), “Tarax” (80 rubles) - these drugs should be sprinkled on baseboards and the area under the bathroom; it is better to use them as additional methods of control.
Pencils. A quick and easy way to control woodlice. The most popular means:
"Titanic" (20-50 rubles).
Gels. The main disadvantage of such funds is the long period of onset of action. Particularly popular brands are:
“Fas” (from 25 rubles for 35 ml).
Traps. Less effective than previous remedies, it is better to use it as a preventive measure. “Raptor” is more often in demand (150-250 rubles).

Important! Many chemicals produce an immediate effect, but are dangerous to human health.

Traditional methods

These methods include:

bleach – dilute 40-50 grams of bleach per 1 liter of water, use the solution to treat walls and floors indoors;
dry kvass - the product is mixed with water in a ratio of 1 to 5, the solution should be treated in all places where pests live;
vinegar - it must be mixed with water and treated with this solution in the habitats of wood lice;
dissolve 1 tsp in 1 liter of water. red pepper, tobacco and soda, spray the pest habitats with this solution, rinse off after 8 hours with water and bleach;
salt - you need to pour it in the corners of the room, into all the cracks and under the baseboards;
alum - you need to dissolve 100 g of the product in 1/2 liter of water, spray it in places in the apartment where wood lice have appeared;
exposure to temperature - crustaceans die from exposure to steam, hot air or extreme cold.

A few more folk methods of fighting woodlice:

Professional disinfection

You just need to choose an organization based on reviews, the means they use and the cost of services and agree on the time of their arrival. This is the most cost-effective method, but it is also the most effective and safe.

Measures to get rid of woodlice

The destruction of woodlice involves not only creating unfavorable conditions for their existence, but also blocking possible ways for them to enter the apartment from the outside.

Leaks in pipes must be eliminated.
Seal all cracks in floors, walls and ceilings.
Check the operation of all plumbing and household appliances.
You can reduce the formation of condensation by replacing metal pipes with plastic ones.
The bathroom should not be used to dry clothes.
Regular ventilation of the apartment, using a hood, air conditioner or fan will help rid the room of excess moisture.

Having implemented these points, you can proceed to the destruction of existing woodlice in the house, as well as to eliminating the source of their reproduction in the attic or basement.

On a note
The first thing that the fight against woodlice involves is the absence of moisture in the room, which is what causes woodlice to appear in the apartment. In other words, it is necessary to create conditions unfavorable for the life of pests: lack of humidity and access to water. Animals will not breed in dry rooms; they simply will not survive there.

Chemical control agents

Chemicals for moth control

If traditional methods do not help, then it is recommended to use chemical agents against woodlice, the range of which is quite wide. Any insecticidal preparations against harmful insects will help to poison such creatures.

Popular chemicals:

A fairly simple way is to spray Dichlorvos against woodlice in those places in the apartment where they live. In residential areas this includes a bathroom and toilet. Aerosol spraying is carried out while wearing a respirator or protective mask due to its toxicity. After treatment it is necessary to ventilate. Other means are used in a similar way for processing: Raptor, Mole.
Tetrix or Tarax are drugs used to combat woodlice by special professional services. These products are sold in concentrated form and before processing they must be diluted with water according to the instructions: 20-40 ml per 1 liter of water.
If domestic wood lice have settled in flower pots in an apartment, then their destruction is possible using the poison Thunder or Ideal, which are sold in gardening stores. After treatment, the plant must be replanted by disinfecting the soil and washing the roots well.
Various gels designed to combat cockroaches and ants will effectively help get rid of woodlice in the house: universal gel bait Schabengel (Germany); Such products should be used according to the instructions, applied around the perimeter of the room and in places of high humidity.

Main habitats in the house and apartment

The appearance of woodlice in the house is always a big surprise, but if you wish, you can predict their appearance, because the number of their habitats is very limited. Woodlice live in residential areas:

In bathroom;
in the toilet;
in ventilation shafts;
near or inside sewer pipes;
under the window sills;
near trash cans;
under the baseboards.

By keeping these areas relatively clean and dry, woodlice infestations can be easily avoided.

Under the bath

The bathroom is one of the main sources of dampness. The air humidity in this room is several times higher than in other rooms, which attracts woodlice there like a magnet. In addition, wet towels and other things are usually stored in the bathroom. All these factors together create comfortable conditions for the life and reproduction of insects.

Behind the toilet in the toilet

The toilet is another place where wood lice are most comfortable to exist. The problem is complicated by the fact that there is a sewer pipe in the toilet, which creates additional humidity. The appearance of woodlice in the toilet is common.

Behind the sewer pipes

As mentioned above, sewer pipes are a favorite habitat for woodlice. It is always humid next to them, there is something to eat, and the owners practically do not look under them, allowing the insects to feel safe.

In the ventilation ducts

Ventilation ducts in apartments and houses are rarely cleaned and are not checked for the presence of woodlice. But darkness always reigns in them, which, combined with humid air from the kitchen and bathroom, creates “resort conditions” for insect pests.

Under the windowsill

The space under the window sill, at the junction with the wall, is another potential refuge for woodlice. There are always small gaps through which woodlice get out in the dark, crawling around the apartment in search of food.

Inside sewer pipes

A problematic place that is difficult to check for pests. There is always something to eat there, and the air is damp and musty. Woodlice can move through pipes from one apartment to another without being noticed.

Near the trash can

Garbage bins constantly attract many insects and animals, as a lot of organic matter accumulates in them. And if animals do not have access to household garbage cans, then it is difficult to stop woodlice. In addition, most housewives install a trash can under the sink, where the humidity is always higher than normal.

Under the baseboards

The space under the baseboard is the favorite place of all insects, and wood lice are no exception. Once a small gap appears in the joints, woodlice will happily sneak into such a secluded place. If there is an insect infestation in your apartment, do not be lazy to check the baseboards.

How to deal with them

Before you begin a large-scale fight against woodlice, you should:

Carry out a sanitary and hygienic inspection of the house. To do this, wash all surfaces and corners thoroughly, ventilate wet areas, dry and disinfect moldy items (or throw them away if possible).
Check the soil of indoor plants. If an unpleasant, stagnant or putrid odor appears, replace the soil, thoroughly cleaning it from the previous one and drying the pot from the inside. Damaged leaves and rotten roots should be trimmed. Soil treatment can be carried out using “Ideal”, “Grom”, “Aktara”, “Grom-2”.
Check the condition of the sewer collector and pipes, water supply and sewerage communications. All areas where there is a leak should be repaired and dried.
Inspect the ventilation ducts (perhaps wood lice “come” into the house from neighbors). If their condition is suspicious, try to carry out hygiene measures.

Perhaps, when the housing inspection is completed, the wood lice will disappear on their own. If not, proceed directly to chemical treatments. Ant poison is often used for these purposes. It is simply sprayed in their habitats and left for a certain period of time. It is effective to use alum, which must be dissolved in water and placed in suspicious places.

Preventive measures

Preventive measures are aimed at avoiding unpleasant neighborhoods in the apartment. As far as we know, preventing the appearance of various insects in an apartment is much easier than spending time and money fighting them. That's because:

First of all, you should pay attention to the microclimate in the apartment and take measures to reduce the level of humidity in the apartment.
Secondly, it is necessary to moderately water indoor plants, especially if they do not need it.
Proper houseplant care, including regular plant inspections and removal of fallen and rotten leaves from flower pots, will also help prevent woodlice from breeding.
Fixing drainage and water supply problems will reduce the likelihood of small crustaceans appearing in areas such as kitchens, bathrooms and toilets.
Repairs should be accompanied by the elimination of cracks formed between the walls and pipes using polyurethane foam.
Do not leave wet rags on the toilet or bathtub floor. They not only emit an unpleasant odor, but also serve as a convenient refuge for woodlice.
It is better to install grilles with fairly small cells on all ventilation openings.
In the event of an invasion of woodlice or other pests, it is necessary to contact special treatment services, primarily for basements and attics.

When woodlice appear in an apartment, you should not calmly watch as they multiply and conquer new territories. You should immediately think about why they appeared in the apartment and what methods can be used to get rid of them. If this is not done, they can easily begin to spoil vegetables and indoor plants.

When starting pest control, it is best to develop tactics and control strategies that should include all known methods of destruction or containment based on chemicals, folk remedies and preventive measures.

We remove ways for woodlice to enter the apartment from the outside

And now your home is clean and dry, there are no leaks and, it would seem, where would woodlice come from? But you meet them again and again. Most people will think that woodlice, like other parasites, have somewhere a secluded place where they reproduce and lay eggs and therefore cannot be completely exterminated. But this is not true at all. The fact is that woodlice enter your apartment from the outside through cracks (if there are any in your house), holes in baseboards, ventilation pipes and water pipes). They are so small that they can get into even the most inconspicuous crevice. Therefore, before poisoning crustaceans in the apartment itself, the first thing you need to do is block all possible ways of getting into your home from the outside.

Room ventilation system. There is an urgent need to put small meshes on all such holes. Buy a mesh with the smallest pattern in order to completely eliminate the risk of it entering your home through the ventilation.
Cracks in walls and ceilings. It is urgent to seal all the cracks that you have in your apartment. If the conversation is about the top floors, this should be done first, since woodlice will appear in entire colonies in your house.
Water supply risers. Carefully check for gaps between the floor, ceiling and the hole itself. It is through these gaps that crustaceans penetrate into apartments.
Sockets. Guests from neighbors can come to you through through holes in the walls.

After all the actions taken, we can safely say that all you have to do is overcome the woodlice in the apartment. They will no longer be able to get to you from the outside, so how can you get them out of your home? Here people take different measures, grandmother’s recipes, but it is impossible to say that these recipes will help get rid of wood lice 100 percent. Only professional means, which we will discuss below, will help completely exterminate woodlice.

What causes wood lice to appear?

Many residents of high-rise buildings who have encountered such unpleasant creatures in the kitchen or in their bathroom want to know why wood lice appear in apartments.

They live mainly in damp places, since moisture is the only condition for pests to live. Therefore, a kitchen with water pipes heavily covered in condensation or a bathroom with damp, damp rugs are places where woodlice live in an apartment. In addition, rotten vegetables and fruits, which can be found in a trash bin that is not regularly taken out, are what crustaceans feed on.

Pests can live not only under the bathroom or in the kitchen. They can also be found in the bedroom, in the corners of which there is fungus. Animals can also live in flower pots where there is a lot of moisture. Pot trays and topsoil are their favorite places. And damaged plant stems and their organic remains serve as a crustacean source of nutrition.

Folk methods of struggle

There are a number of folk remedies to combat woodlice:

A solution based on tobacco, soda and red pepper

Having measured out 3 g of each ingredient, mix them with 1 liter of boiling water. The solution is sprayed onto areas of soil where wood lice were found.

It is scattered in places where wood lice accumulate. This option cannot be used for processing beds.

Add 100 g of powder to 500 ml of water. Spray the solution in greenhouses and beds.

Take 10 g of powder and dilute it in 500 ml of water, treat it with the composition of the bed.

Creating Traps

In pest habitats, place rags soaked in water, birch brooms, potatoes or apples with the core removed at night. In the morning, the preparations are thrown away or burned along with the crustaceans that have climbed into them.

Rating of popular remedies

Among the popular means aimed at combating woodlice are:

Tarax;
Scabengel bait gel;
Dichlorvos Varan;
Get;
Tetrix.

Tarax

Helps remove unwanted insects that have invaded your home. Effectively destroys:

woodlice;
ants;
fleas;
cockroaches

Has good reviews from customers.

Scabengel bait gel

A German drug, one package of which is enough to treat a two-room apartment. Available in the form of a gel bait, it is placed in places where parasites accumulate. Keep the drug away from children and animals, as it is toxic.

New generation dichlorvos Varan

A universal remedy that allows you to effectively destroy small parasites in the house. Easy to use and cost a reasonable amount of money. Observe safety precautions when spraying.

Get

Destroys the following insects:

bedbugs;
woodlice;
flies;
ants;
fleas;
os.

It is sold in the form of a liquid concentrate and does not have a strong odor. The result appears within a week after application.

Tetrix

An expensive product that belongs to the professional category. Used by sanitary services during pest control operations. You can use it yourself at home, but before doing this you need to study the instructions for use in detail and strictly follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Reasons for appearance

Woodlice is drawn to moisture; it cannot live in dry air. If the apartment is full of moisture, then you can safely expect guests. Woodlice will choose the wettest area in the apartment and settle there. Most often they live under the floor, tiles, behind wallpaper. Woodlice feeds on microorganisms and mold.

The view, of course, is not the prettiest, but they have one advantage - woodlice do not bite. It's very easy to catch them. It is enough to block their path. Very often, people do not even notice such “tenants”, since the woodlice gets out of the den at night. The only danger that woodlice can bring is eating houseplants. Sometimes woodlice can feed on house plants, especially orchids.

How dangerous are woodlice?

Are wood lice dangerous for humans and do these creatures bite or not? These are the questions that arise for those who discover these small crustaceans in their kitchen or bathroom. Woodlice do not attack humans; their bite can only be dangerous to indoor plants. Arthropods are safe for human health; to a greater extent, they cause unpleasant aesthetic sensations.

Woodlice

Although if you look at it differently, the appearance of any pest in the apartment worsens its sanitary condition. After all, woodlice, just like cockroaches or ants, climbing through the basement or attic, can come into contact with rat, mouse or pigeon excrement. And after moving into an apartment, migrate from one room to another. Although the disease tolerance of these creatures has not been proven today, it is clear that the appearance of such a “tenant” in the house does not promise anything good.

The damage caused by this crustacean consists of damage to vegetable stocks that are stored in the cellar, as well as damage to indoor plants. Arthropods are especially partial to young shoots of seedlings.

Prevention

It’s always easier to take preventive advice than to hold your head in the face of a depressing problem later. To prevent woodlice from appearing:

Constantly check the serviceability of pipes and their joints, including those connected to electrical appliances.
Remove traces of moisture in the bathroom and kitchen more often: on the floor, under the bathtub, under the sink, make sure that there is no debris or dirt there, as this is what attracts insects.
Eliminate all problems in the ventilation ducts so that any remaining moisture can evaporate without problems.
When the temperature in the house is less than 20°C and the weather is damp, turn on the heaters.
Keep all rooms clean and tidy, especially the kitchen and bathroom.
Ventilate more often.
Do not leave any food on countertops (fruits and vegetables in particular).
Throw out trash as often as possible.
Do not keep organic waste in the house, which woodlice love so much.

If you have a private house, then you should work on the ventilation system, keep the basement clean, remove moisture from there, and ventilate all rooms daily. In places where it is difficult to reduce the accumulation of moisture, you can place containers that are filled with table salt (to absorb unnecessary moisture).

Do not neglect all available methods in the fight against excess moisture in the house, otherwise wood lice will not keep you waiting long. Follow all the tips provided for prevention. And if they appear, give preference to products with good characteristics and reviews, and do not reject traditional methods. Remember the popular wisdom: forewarned is forearmed.

Pest prevention

To prevent woodlice from entering your home, take the recommended preventive measures:

maintain optimal humidity in the room - eliminate sources of dampness, adjust the operation of the ventilation system. If necessary, install and use dehumidifiers or moisture absorbers;
keep the room clean - regularly carry out wet cleaning, take out the trash promptly, wash dirty dishes;
wipe the trays of indoor plants so that wet soil does not remain on them and water does not stagnate;
ventilate the room regularly;
Seal all the cracks in the floor, under the window sills, and in the ceiling. Draw a “border” around the ventilation hole with a special chalk or pencil.

In order to get rid of woodlice forever, create unfavorable conditions for them in the apartment and deprive them of food

You can fight woodlice in your apartment using chemicals and folk remedies. However, the first step is to block the insects’ access to the room, otherwise the baiting will not bring results. After exterminating pests, keep the apartment clean and air humidity to avoid a recurrence of the problem.

Types of woodlice

In general, there are several thousand species of woodlice (3500-5000 according to various sources).

Typically found in a home:

Common woodlouse-armadillo (Armadillidium vulgare). It is easily recognized by its high, dark-colored shell. Crustaceans prefer damp cellars and basements, so they are not very often found in houses and apartments, but anything can happen. If there is a possible threat, the creature instantly curls up into a ball.
Woodlouse (Porsellio scaber). This is a fairly famous “traveler” of apartments. Characteristic features of representatives of this species:

The shell has a reddish tint.
7 pairs of legs allow tiny creatures to move very quickly.
They don't know how to roll up into a ball.

It’s interesting that crustaceans get into the apartment:

Together with soil collected from the park for replanting indoor flora.
With soil-contaminated root vegetables purchased at the market.
From attics or basements.
From sewer pipes.
Along the ventilation ducts.
From neighbors who are so comfortable that small pests have multiplied in huge numbers and decided to develop new territories.

Description and photo of woodlice

Woodlice is an oval-shaped insect whose body is covered with a black shell consisting of segments. There are small notches along the contour of the body, and long antennae are located on the head. An adult reaches a length of 0.2-1.5 cm and moves using 7 pairs of legs. In nature, there are more than 250 species of pests, including white woodlice.

Insects are not dangerous to people and animals; they do not bite or spread infections. However, such guests in the apartment are unlikely to make anyone happy, since wood lice eat indoor plants, destroy food supplies, and also climb onto the table and crawl on food in search of food. Insects are especially active at night.

Knowing what woodlice look like, you can quickly identify insects that have appeared in the house and begin timely fight against them

Bugs enter the apartment from basements or attics through ventilation holes and cracks. In search of food, they easily cover long distances and crawl over thresholds and stairs. They choose places with high humidity to live, so they live under the sink or behind pipes in the toilet and bathroom, near the trash can, in pots or trays with flowers.

Can a person bring woodlice into the house?

As a rule, woodlice try to avoid places of noise and vibration, so with a high degree of probability we can say that a person himself cannot bring a crustacean into the house. It is a rare occurrence to bring woodlice into the house along with a fruit or vegetable. In this case, the woodlice most likely will not take root in the house, since it did not get there on its own.

The most dangerous woodlice for a person’s home are those that entered the house on their own from damp rooms. It is precisely these parasites that pose a danger not only in their diet, but also in their reproduction in your apartment.

Integrated approach to the eradication of crustaceans in the home

The first step is to create conditions for the existence of woodlice in which they cannot live and reproduce.

Next, you need to block all possible paths along which woodlice could enter your apartment from external sources.

Proceed to exterminate pests in your apartment that were able to get into it.

The last and most important point is the destruction of crustaceans in the source of their reproduction (basements or attics).

According to various studies, wood lice do not harm humans, but if you think about it, it is very unpleasant to realize the fact that crustaceans previously lived in the basement or attics next to mice and rats and could quite easily bring various kinds of infections to your home. Further: although parasites do not harm human health, they cause great damage to food. Woodlice can move around your apartment completely calmly; from the toilet they can go straight to the kitchen table, which also does not bring pleasure from such a picture. Therefore, it is important to fight woodlice and not leave any chance for their existence in the house.

What does woodlice eat?

This type of crustacean is completely unpretentious in food; its menu includes:

rotting food scraps;
plant remains;
slime on the walls;
dust.

Woodlice can cause damage to garden plants, but they also eat weeds.

Interesting facts about woodlice

Crustaceans carry their eggs with them. Female woodlice do not leave eggs in hidden places. They have a pouch on their belly that is designed to carry eggs. After small woodlice hatch from the eggs, they first live in this pocket and only then leave it for independent existence.

Crustaceans do not emit urine. Unlike most living creatures, woodlice do not urinate, but remove waste from the body by emitting gases through the exoskeleton.

Woodlice's blue color - where does it come from? When a parasite is infected with some dangerous disease, it begins to turn blue. When you see a blue woodlice, you know it is infected.

How to determine where they breed?

First of all, you need to understand that these creatures breed where there is maximum humidity. Therefore, you should look for their habitat in precisely such places - in the bathroom, under the floor in the kitchen near the sink. If possible, you need to inspect the attic and basement .

In country houses, be sure to go down to the basement and look for nests of pests in dark corners, turn over stones and bricks, check the water supply and sewerage for leaks.

It is the infestation of woodlice that often leads to residents discovering a leaking roof or a leaking water supply.

The presence of woodlice in public areas is an alarming signal. The pests themselves can serve as carriers of diseases , but their presence also indicates high dampness in the premises, and this causes the appearance of mold and mildew, which is already very dangerous for the health of residents of the apartment complex. Having discovered woodlice, you should immediately call the housing office and call the sanitary control service to check basements and attics.

If the house has pantries or closets where vegetables are stored, they should also be inspected, lifting sequentially the containers where the supplies are poured.

How do crustaceans get into human homes?

As mentioned earlier, woodlice enter living spaces from basements, attics, and so on. woodlice themselves are very active pests, but it is quite difficult for them to make their way through floors and enter apartments, so most often these parasites can be found on the lower and upper floors of apartment buildings. Among other things, wood lice can get into your home from supermarkets, wastewater treatment plants, and parking lots that are located near your home.

How do woodlice reproduce in attics and what do they eat there? These pests are very unpretentious in food and can find food for themselves anywhere they live. In attics, their main food is long-lived pigeon droppings.

Pigeon droppings contain remnants of undigested seeds, which is quite suitable for the diet of crustaceans.
The roofs of apartment buildings rarely need to be repaired, which leads to leaks, and as we already know, dampness is a favorable environment for woodlice.

Now it becomes clear why it is in attics that mating of crustaceans occurs, which subsequently leads to a large-scale filling of the top floors with pests.

How does this even happen? First, one or several individuals enter the apartment, which does not attract the attention of the owners, since they rarely catch the eye of a person.

Afterwards, there are significantly more individuals and the likelihood of catching a person’s eye increases sharply. Seeing a crustacean in the bathroom, panic begins and a thorough inspection of the apartment reveals that there are quite a lot of specimens in your apartment, so the question arises: “Where did they come from?”

What does a woodlice look like?

Woodlice (Oniscidea) is a suborder of crustaceans from the order Isopoda. The woodlouse has an oval-shaped body, with a slightly convex upper part. The body consists of eight segments, the first wraps around the head, the last has a notch, and on the abdomen the segments are in a free position. The body of the woodlice is reliably protected by a dense shell.

The woodlice has two pairs of antennae on its head: one is weakly developed and the other is strongly developed. The eyes are located on the sides of the head. The woodlice has a jaw.

The woodlouse has seven pairs of legs, well adapted for walking. The internal branch of their body plays the role of gills, and the outer part is covered with a shell that protects the respiratory organs. When threatened, woodlice curl up into a ball.

Many people believe that woodlice is an insect. Indeed, in appearance and size it is similar to beetles, but in fact the woodlice belongs to the order of isopods, a suborder of crustaceans.

The lifespan of woodlice is 9-12 months.

In appearance, woodlice is similar to a centipede, which is why they are often confused. But if you can see the first one in the house, then the centipede usually lives in the wild, for example, under stones or in fallen leaves.

Insect Information

Woodlice is an ancient species of crustacean that can live in water and on land. There are more than 3,500 species of insects of this species. They are adapted to live in different places, their only feature is that their habitat must be humid. Despite the semi-hard shell, which serves as a barrier against changes in external temperatures, it should always be moist. The crustacean does not like dry places; when the surface of the body dries out, it dies.

The insect is an omnivore, due to the peculiarities of the digestive system. It can feed on food debris, dropped crumbs, rotting plants, wood, and decomposition residues. Woodlouse reproduces quickly, one individual brings up to 50 eggs at a time.

Lives - no more than 12 months.

Woodlice in the kitchen is a sign of excessive dampness

How do woodlice reproduce?

The mating period for woodlice falls in April-May. During the process of copulation, the male fills the female's testicle with seminal fluid. After some time, the testis bursts and the seed enters the oviduct. At this time, the female molts, which leads to changes in her appearance: the paired genital openings close, transforming into unpaired slits, and a brood chamber appears on the five front pairs of legs. Fertilized eggs enter it, where they begin to develop.

But not all of the seed is converted into eggs; a certain amount remains and participates in fertilization after the first generation is born.

Woodlice eggs hatch into larvae that develop in the brood chamber for 40-50 days. The larvae have 6 pairs of limbs. During their development, they experience 10-12 molts.