Features
Recognizing how wood lice look like is easy. Say that wood lice are an insect cannot. It's shallow breathing through the gills crustacean with an oval slightly convex upper body. The size of an adult can reach a length of up to 2 cm.
Woodlice have a strong shell, divided into pronounced segments of a light gray or brown hue. Among a large number of varieties of these animals there are also white wood lice. Each segment corresponds to a pair of legs (a total of 14 legs). The crustacean has two resembling ponytails-appendages of the tactile organ, which are located in the back of the body. In danger, woodworms curl up in a ball, pretending to be dead. Below is a view of wood lice in the photo.
What can cause woodworms
Why do woodworms appear in an apartment, many residents of high-rise buildings who have met such unpleasant creatures in the kitchen or in their bathroom want to know.
They live mainly in moist places, since moisture is the only condition for pests to live. Therefore, a kitchen with copiously condensed water pipes or bathroom with wet damp rugs - the place where woodworms live in the apartment. In addition, rotten vegetables and fruits, which can be found in an irregularly carried out bin, are what crustaceans eat.
Pests can live not only under the bathroom or in the kitchen. They can be found in the bedroom, in the corners of which there is a fungus. Animals can also settle in flower pots, where there is a lot of moisture. Pallets of pots and topsoil are their favorite places. And damaged plant stems and their organic debris serve as a crustacean source of nutrition.
Penetration paths
Having discovered wood lice in the apartment, many people do not attach much importance to this. They begin to sound an alarm when there are a lot of animals in the room. Knowing where wood lice come from in the apartment, they can be prevented from spreading, since arthropods breed quite quickly. Crustaceans can enter a house from a damp attic or basement:
- By ventilation system;
- Through cracks in the walls, floor or ceiling;
- Through poorly sealed gaps in openings for water and sewer pipes;
- Pests can come from the neighbor’s apartment (through the through holes in the walls for the outlet).
Relief Activities
The destruction of wood lice provides not only the creation of unfavorable conditions for their existence, but also the overlap of possible ways of their penetration into the apartment from the outside.
- It is necessary to eliminate smudges in pipes.
- Cover all the cracks in the floors, walls and ceiling.
- Check the operation of all plumbing and household appliances.
- Condensation can be reduced by replacing metal pipes with plastic ones.
- Do not use the bathroom to dry clothes.
- Regular ventilation of the apartment, the use of hoods, air conditioning or a fan will help save the room from excess moisture.
By implementing these points, you can proceed to destroy the existing wood lice in the house, as well as to eliminate the source of their reproduction in the attic or basement.
On a note
The first thing that provides for the fight against wood lice is the lack of moisture in the room, from which lice appear in the apartment. In other words, it is necessary to create conditions unfavorable for the life of pests: lack of moisture and access to water. In dry rooms, animals will not start, there they simply will not survive.
What are dangerous woodlice
Whether wood lice are dangerous to humans and these creatures bite or not, such questions arise in those who find these small crustaceans in their kitchen or bathroom. Woodlice do not attack a person, their bite can be dangerous only to indoor plants. Arthropods are safe for human health, and to a greater extent they cause unpleasant aesthetic sensations.
Although if you look at it differently, the appearance of any pest in the apartment worsens its sanitary condition. After all, wood lice also like cockroaches or ants climbing the basement or attic, can come in contact with rat, mouse or pigeon excrement. And after moving to the apartment, migrate from one room to another. Although the tolerance of diseases by these creatures has not been proven today, it is clear that the appearance of such a “lodger” in the house does not promise anything good.
The harm caused by this crustacean consists in spoiling the vegetable stocks stored in the cellar, as well as in damage to indoor plants. Arthropods are especially partial to young shoots of seedlings.
Folk methods of struggle
Not everyone knows how to deal with wood lice in an apartment. Folk remedies are the safest way to get rid of pests for human health. In addition, folk remedies for wood lice are effective and do not require large expenditures.
Boric acid
Boric acid from wood lice is one of the most effective and affordable folk remedies that is used in the fight against domestic insects. It is a white powder that can be purchased at every pharmacy. The principle of application is simple: you need to scatter the product in the dark corners of the apartment where the pest appeared.
Boric acid can be used in other ways. 10 g of the product is diluted in 10 l of water, after which the resulting solution is used to clean the surfaces of the bathroom and kitchen. And you can make balls from eggs, semolina and boron powder and decompose them in places of the greatest concentration of pests.
Bleach
You can also fight against woodlice with bleach. 40-50 g of the product must be diluted in 1 liter of water. Such a tool is used to treat walls and floors of a room.
Kvass
Dry kvass is another effective remedy for wood lice in an apartment. It must be mixed with water in a ratio of 1: 5. The resulting solution to process the habitat of the pest.
Potato and vinegar
You can get rid of wood lice in the house with the help of raw potatoes. Using a knife, several holes are cut out in it. The smell of potato juice acts as a bait for the pest, as a result of which it will try to get deeper into the tuber. Having found crustaceans inside such a trap, it is quite simple to get rid of it.
To fight not only against woodlice, but also cockroaches use vinegar. It is mixed with water, and the selected solution is treated with the areas chosen by the woodlice. Crustaceans are afraid of the smell of vinegar, and therefore will try to leave the room faster.
Red pepper, tobacco and soda
You can remove wood lice from the apartment if you use tobacco, soda and red pepper. 0.5 tsp each each component is stirred in 1 liter of water. Using a spray gun, the habitats of animals are sprayed with a solution. After 8 hours, the treated surfaces are washed off with water with the addition of a chlorine-containing product.
Salt
You can remove homemade woodlice with salt. Especially this tool is relevant for families with children. It is enough to pour it in the corners of the room, in all the cracks, under the baseboard, and you will no longer see unpleasant “neighbors”.
Alum
Deadly for crustaceans and alum. 100 g of the product is dissolved in 0.5 l of water. The resulting solution is sprayed with pest infected areas in the apartment.
Exposure to temperature
Almost instant death awaits pests when treating an apartment with steam or hot air. Cold can also kill crustaceans. Severe frost is detrimental to animals, as their warm habitat is warm, moist rooms.
Chemicals
If wood lice are wound up in an apartment, then chemical agents can also be used to combat them. Many of them have an instant effect, but are not safe for human health.
Aerosols
Insecticidal aerosol formulations are sold in spray cans. One of the most popular is Dichlorvos from wood lice. According to customer reviews, aerosols Raptor, Mole, Varan, Combat are no less popular.
The use of aerosol products is advisable in the case when wood lice are not very common and live in small areas. To treat a private house or a large basement with a spray can just can not do. As a result, a considerable amount will be required to purchase an anti-wood lice remedy.
Feedback
“I used aerosol Varan against woodlice in the country. An excellent tool - it was possible to poison not only these bugs, but also cockroaches. In addition, the aerosol does not have a specific smell. For 6 months now there have been no pests in the house. ”
Alexander, Omsk
Concentrates
There are insecticidal concentrates, the advantage of which is not only a high level of effectiveness, but also significant profitability in use. This makes it possible at small financial costs to process the overall premises. Tetrix, Get, Cucaracha, Tarax or Tsifoks - this is how to remove wood lice can be quickly and forever.
Feedback
“Mokrits under the bathtub was taken out with the help of Tarax. A very effective remedy - after a few hours not a single living vile creature was observed in the bathroom. Recomend for everybody."
Elena Nikolaevna, Vladivostok
Powders
Many who have got woodworms in the apartment use the powdered insecticides Riapan, Clean House, Phenaxin and others to destroy them. But such drugs are preferable to use as an adjuvant in addition to other methods of control.
The principle of application is quite simple: plinth is sprinkled with poison on the perimeter of the room, and the product is also strewed under the bath. However, not all woodlice crawl along such floor markings, some of them can move along the walls. As a result, the insecticidal composition simply will not work on them.
Pencils
Insecticidal crayons or pencils such as Mashenka, Titanic - this is something to poison wood lice in the apartment quite quickly and easily. Crustaceans are much more vulnerable to this means of fighting than cockroaches, as more poison sticks to their flat segmented bodies. In addition, the crayons are convenient for use on vertical surfaces.
Another advantage of such a means of control is the possibility of using it as a barrier. Crossing the drawn “barrier” to animals will lead to its inevitable death.
Feedback
“Chalk Mashenka helped us get rid of not only wood lice, but also cockroaches. Many dead insects were found on the floor after the first application. After 2 weeks, the treatment was repeated - there have been no pests for more than two months. ”
Anna, Kiev
Gels
Insecticidal gels have a similar effect. Such funds are used for bullying not only cockroaches and ants, but also wood lice. A long period of onset of action is the disadvantage of this tool. The following brands are especially popular: Absolute, Fas, Klinbeyt.
Traps
Sticky traps can also be used as a prophylactic for combating wood lice in an apartment. They are less effective than the above drugs, therefore, are suitable only for trapping individual individuals. Global, Agrus, Raptor - one of the most sought after brands.
Lures
You can get rid of wood lice in the apartment with the help of poisoned baits. For their preparation, it is necessary to mix the egg yolk with a concentrated insecticidal preparation such as Lambda Zone, Xulat Micro or Delta Zone in accordance with the instructions.
Knowing these nuances will help prevent the appearance of these small crustaceans in the apartment. And if several individuals get into your home with vegetables or fruits bought on the market, then the above listed means of control can prevent the spread of animals.