Woodlice appeared in old newspapers how to fight. What causes woodlice

Woodlice, small creatures belonging to the order of crustaceans, are unwanted guests of some houses. They choose rooms with a high level of humidity, which have all the necessary conditions for their comfortable living. Having noticed woodlice, it is advisable to try to get rid of them as soon as possible.

What woodlice that live in apartments and houses look like

Woodlice are different. The most common wood lice and rough wood lice are found in our homes. They have an oblong body, divided into several segments, each of which has a pair of legs. An adult wood louse can reach a length of 20 mm.

At the sight of danger, some species curl up into a hard ball, while the rest safely imitate death.

Woodlice reproduce quickly enough, laying eggs.

Penetrating into houses and greenhouses, wood lice can cause decent damage to agricultural products. For this reason, they are unwanted guests not only in apartments, but also on farms, orchards and vegetable gardens.

Where woodlice are most often found

Homeowners in which woodlice have settled often ask themselves: where and why do they come from? In living quarters, pests appear, moving from basements and attics. One of the favorite places for wood lice is the bathroom. And also they can start in the kitchen, balcony, toilet and sometimes in a cavity under stretch ceilings.

Where and why they can appear

The main factor in the appearance of woodlice in the house is the presence of dampness necessary for their existence. In addition, insects are attracted by the ability to eat plentifully. As food they use:

• rotting vegetables or fruits;
• trash can with food debris;
• flowers and soil with the right level of moisture.

Nibbled leaves and stems of indoor plants can also indicate the presence of these small pests in your home.

Dangerous neighbors for humans and pets

Unlike many species of insects that inhabit human dwellings, wood lice do not bite and thus do not cause physical discomfort to either people or animals. However, getting into apartments from basements, from the street or attic, they are carriers of many dangerous diseases, and are also distributors of fungi and lichens. In addition, the appearance of these creatures causes disgust. For this reason, it is imperative to deal with intruders.

We destroy the invasion of insects: where to start the fight

Woodlice extermination is difficult. If you want to get rid of insects in the house yourself, provide an integrated approach to solving this problem.

1. Do a general cleaning, after which try to reduce the moisture level by using desiccants, air conditioners or fans.
2. Repair any device that leaks water.
3. Pay attention to the flower pots. It is quite possible that a plant transplant will be needed in order to replace the soil affected by wood lice.
4. Protect your home from the penetration of wood lice from the outside. To do this, fit the ventilation holes with a fine mesh.
5. Repair cracks in ceilings and walls and remove gaps around water and sewer risers. You can cope with this task using polyurethane foam.

Then you can begin to destroy the pests that have already settled in the apartment.

How to kill wood lice: means of industrial production

To get rid of wood lice, modern means designed for baiting various types of insects are excellent. Currently, there are several types of similar substances on the market:

• insecticidal aerosols;
• spray concentrates;
• powders;
• insecticidal crayons (pencils);
• gels;
• sticky traps;
• fumigators;
• ultrasonic scarers.

Insecticidal aerosols

These include a variety of Dichlorvos, Clean House aerosol, Raptor for crawling insects, Combat Superspray. However, these substances are useful only when treating certain areas in which large accumulations of wood lice are observed. To get rid of the whole house or basement, these drugs will not work.

Concentrated sprays

The most popular products are Delta Zone, Taran, Xulat Miko, Tetrixi, Cucaracha, Get. With their help, the premises are processed by many representatives of the disinfection services. Using these preparations, you can kill wood lice over large areas.

These preparations (Riapan, dust from insects Clean House, Phenaxin) are intended for scattering around the perimeter of the premises. The effectiveness of the powders is not very high, since not all wood lice prefer to move on the floor. For this reason, their use is advisable only as additional control measures.

Crayons

Such products are ideal for use on vertical surfaces, while wood lice are more susceptible to attack: a large amount of poisonous substance adheres to their shell. Crayons and crayons are great barriers that can be used to treat areas around where insects enter your apartment.

Sticky insect traps

This option is suitable as a prophylaxis and is not used as a primary means. With the help of sticky traps, single individuals can be caught, but this will not solve the problem of destroying all wood lice that have settled in the house.

While fumigators are traditionally used against flying insects, they can also be used to combat woodlice infestations. As practice shows, these devices are very effective and allow you to get rid of annoying crustaceans with regular use.

How to poison wood lice: industrial remedies in the photo

Insecticidal powders can only be used as an additional measure to control woodlice. Among all industrial products, sprays are best suited for killing wood lice. Insect crayons help to protect the home from the reappearance of wood lice Insect gels can destroy only a small part of the woodlice population in the house. Insect traps, like sticky gels, remove only a small part of the insects that have settled in the house. Fumigator is an effective means of fighting woodlice An ultrasonic insect repeller is useless, it has no effect on wood lice

Ultrasonic repellents have the least efficiency in the fight against wood lice, the use of which gives practically no results.

Attention! The use of chemicals in the fight against wood lice is highly effective, but most of these agents are unsafe for humans and pets.

The use of chemicals gives results only after preliminary preparation of the apartment, which involves blocking access to wood lice from external sources. Otherwise, processing will be required more than once.

When choosing and applying a chemical agent to kill insects, follow the basic rules:

• when examining the product on the counter, pay attention to the level of its safety for people and animals, as well as to the absence of unpleasant odors;
• read the instructions carefully before using the drug. Use respirators and rubber gloves if necessary to avoid poisoning.

It has been observed that wood lice do not tolerate hot steam treatment. Temperatures exceeding 70 ° C are critical for their life. A similar control method can be used as an alternative to chemicals.

Folk ways to help get rid of wood lice

There are many folk remedies for fighting woodlice. They have a certain level of effectiveness as well as safety for pets and children.

The most popular method is boric acid spraying

One of the most common methods is spraying boric acid solution in places where wood lice accumulate. With this tool, you can destroy a certain number of insects, but multiple processing of the room will be required.

An economical way of destruction - dry kvass

Dry kvass can be purchased at the store. Its smell scares off woodlice, forcing them to leave the room.

1. Take 0.5 liters of boiling water and dissolve 100 g of dry kvass in it.
2. Spray the solution in the bathroom, toilet, along crevices, on shelves, corners and on the floor.
3. Close the room for 8-10 hours.
4. After the specified time has elapsed, wash off the solution with a cloth and clean water.

We fight insects with soda and pepper

Baking soda and pepper are toxic to woodlice. Getting on the shell, the solution destroys it, leading to the death of the insect.

1. Dissolve 3 g of soda and 3 g of red pepper powder in 1 liter of cold water.
2. Treat the places where pests accumulate with the resulting solution.

Method suitable for basement, cellar or garage

Take salt and sprinkle it on the floor and in the corners of the room affected by wood lice. You can also prepare a saline solution and spray it on surfaces. Using this method, you will be able to drive uninvited guests out of your apartment, basement or garage.

How to poison wood lice in the bathroom and toilet - video

How to make baits and traps yourself

In order to kill wood lice, you can use homemade traps.

1. Take a birch broom or a regular rag.
2. Wet thoroughly and leave in the corner of the room overnight.
3. In the morning, take this item out of the house and shake out the wood lice.

If wood lice have chosen a flower pot:

• take raw potatoes or carrots and, after cutting out the core, place them near the houseplants;
• in the morning, discard the bait along with the wood lice that have climbed inside.

It should be noted that these methods are of low efficiency. Discarded wood lice can return to their favorite home again.

Rating of the most popular funds

According to the estimates of the majority of Internet users, among the specialized tools that allow you to get rid of wood lice in residential premises, the most effective are:

• tarax is a universal drug against insects;
• Scabengel gel bait. The substance is easily applied to any surface, does not have a pungent odor and allows you to reduce the number of wood lice in a few days. The main advantages of the drug are ease of use and high efficiency;
• dichlorvos of a new generation "Varan", odorless and safe for people and pets;
• Get - a liquid concentrate, as well as an analogue of this drug, produced under the name "Master";
• tetrix is ​​a potent remedy, which contains cypermethrin, which allows you to get rid of wood lice for more than 70 days. This drug is very toxic, but it is a guarantee of high results in the fight against any insects. Its use assumes compliance with the precautions detailed in the instructions.

Popular means to kill insects in different rooms - gallery

Tarax is an effective insect killer Scabengel gel bait is popular with users for its ease of use and high efficiency. Dichlorvos "Varan" is harmless to people and pets The Get drug has proven itself well in the fight against wood lice Tetrix is ​​the most effective drug that relieves wood lice for a long time

Anyone who has ever seen woodlice will confirm that this creature does not cause positive emotions. It can be found not only in piles of rotten leaves in autumn or damp basements, but also in a house or apartment. We will talk about this animal and the methods of driving it out of your home.

Wood lice, contrary to popular belief, is not an insect. This is a representative of crustaceans. At the moment, there are more than 3000 species of this animal in the world. The species that is found in homes in temperate latitudes is called Porcellio scaber, or wood lice pig..
Porcellio scaber It grows up to 2 cm in length, has a gray, brown or black body covered with transverse scales. The crustacean has seven pairs of legs and a pair of antennae, which are half the length of the body.

He also has a pair of eyes placed on the sides of his head. Woodlice need constant moisture and access to food, so they can be found in people's homes in the bathroom, in the kitchen or in the basement. They can also be found in flower pots and greenhouses.

Important! If at least a few of these animals appeared, you can be sure that they will soon significantly increase their population. This is due to the fact that they reproduce very quickly - females can breed three times a year (more than 50 individuals at a time).

They feed mainly on plant residues, cellulose, food waste, in which decay processes have already begun. Thanks to this property of the animal, we can conclude that woodlice are useful inhabitants in the garden area, as they help to recycle organic waste.

In the matter of garden sabotage, the fame of these crustaceans is too exaggerated - a small colony will not be able to inflict tangible damage on healthy plants. If the number of wood lice is striking, then in this case it is worthwhile to deal with their elimination even in the garden.

How to detect presence

The presence of woodlice in the dwelling can be guessed by their visual identification on the territory.

In most cases, insects are nocturnal, so during the day they may not be noticed. In search of favorable conditions, they can travel long distances - from the basement of a high-rise building to the highest floors.

To establish the presence or absence of these crustaceans in your home, you should look at their favorite places: under the sink, at the joints of pipes, under the bathroom and in any other place where there is high humidity and there is plant and food waste.

The reasons for the appearance of wood lice in the house are always the coincidence of factors: the presence of a damp, cool place and food. Therefore, in human housing, they are attracted by basements, baths, kitchens and any other places that correspond to the listed parameters.
If pipes are leaking somewhere, or the process of removing humid air is poorly organized due to poor ventilation, you can be sure that wood lice will appear there.

Did you know? In the ocean, there are giant woodlice of the genus Bathynomus giganteus, the length of which can reach 70 cm.

In addition to its unpleasant appearance for a person, wood lice do not bring any tangible harm. The crustacean almost never feeds on healthy plant tissues, and also does not have a jaw apparatus that can bite through human skin.

But in the presence of a large colony, there is a possibility that animals can bring some types of lichen or fungus into the dwelling on their paws.

The appearance of wood lice is a signal that the room has problems with humidity and cleanliness.

How to deal: instructions

Getting rid of wood lice can be very difficult if there are conditions that attract them. They colonize the territory they like rather quickly and multiply rapidly, therefore, to eliminate them, you need to follow a certain plan.

Important! If repairs are planned and wood lice were found, it is recommended to get rid of them before work. This will give better results than after renovation, during which some wood lice will temporarily leave the repaired premises.

Blocking the paths of entry

First of all, it is worth blocking all possible paths through which woodlice could get into housing. For example, seal the gaps in the floor and walls with a sealant. This will help avoid repopulating your home with these crustaceans after successfully disposing of them.

If they arrive at the house from neighbors, then either cleaning work should be carried out with them, or the conditions for their living should be removed. In this case, guests-woodlice cannot be avoided, but they will no longer linger in a dwelling that is not suitable for their life.

After the penetration paths of crustaceans have been blocked, it is worthwhile to tackle the elimination of favorable conditions for their living in your home.
To do this, it is necessary to eliminate the source of high humidity: repair leaking pipes, establish ventilation and dry the premises with a fan heater or air conditioner.

It is also worth removing all sources of their food: debris, fungus and mold, replacing rotten boards.

Application of insect repellents

Elimination of conditions attractive to woodlice does not always force them to leave the territory right now, especially if the population is large. There are several types of remedies designed to help get rid of these uninvited residents: folk remedies and chemicals.

This category includes various methods of blocking the colonization path of crustaceans, as well as mixtures for poisoning their body with harmful substances. Proven and most harmless to humans and pets is the use of salt lanes and boric acid solution.

To block the paths of penetration, paths made of ordinary table salt are used., poured behind the front door and in the corners of the room.
When salt gets on the body of a crustacean, it causes dehydration, thereby forcing the woodlice to leave uncomfortable conditions.

Did you know?Males of this crustacean, when infected with a certain virus, can become females.

Boric acid solution- a time-tested insecticide, which is based on the destruction of the hard shell of an insect, causing its death.

Chlorine... A solution is prepared (40 g per 1 liter of water) and all surfaces of the room in which wood lice live are carefully processed. This agent is toxic to them, causing burns and damage to the respiratory tract.

On the market for insect repellents, there are those that effectively destroy wood lice.

The most popular among them can be distinguished:

• "Tarax"- a remedy that also helps against cockroaches and bedbugs. It is harmless to people and pets. The action of the remedy is based on the fact that several woodlice come into contact with this powdery poison and carry it on the paws of their fellows. Due to this, the remaining crustaceans become infected, leading to their death;
• "Gett" is produced in the form of ready-made aerosols or liquid concentrate (the ratio of solution to water should be 1:10). This tool should be used to treat surfaces on which crustaceans have been seen. The drug, getting into the respiratory tract and under chitin, leads to disruption of the work of internal organs and death. It is safe for all inhabitants of the dwelling, except for fish. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to close the aquarium tightly during processing;
• "Varan"- odorless dichlorvos, which, in addition to flying and crawling insects, also affects woodlice. It has a nerve-paralytic effect on the body of the crustacean. The disadvantage is that the product must be sprayed directly onto the pests;
• "Tetrix"- a rather toxic agent that requires compliance with increased safety measures during its use: remove dishes and food, use protective clothing and goggles, and children and pets are not allowed to be around.

Calling special services

In the case when it is not possible to cope with wood lice on your own, you can resort to the services of professionals. To call the service, you should contact the local department of the sanitary-epidemiological station or private companies involved in pest control. Such a service will treat the home with drugs, the effectiveness of which is guaranteed. The service is not cheap, but under certain conditions this is the only way out.

Preventive measures

In order not to encounter wood lice again, it is worth carrying out preventive measures designed to eliminate the conditions that attract them:

• timely elimination of any water supply / sewerage leaks;
• airing and drying rooms with high humidity;
• compliance with cleanliness;
• elimination of cracks and faults on the floor, ceiling and walls.

In nature, woodlice are habitual inhabitants of the wet layer of decaying vegetation; they inhabit meadows and coastal areas of water bodies in abundance, willingly settle in parks and vegetable gardens. But a humid dark basement of a human house can become quite suitable, and from there, along the ventilation paths and through cracks in the floor, they penetrate into kitchens and rooms.

You can bring wood lice into the house with vegetables from the cellar or garden, fruits from the store, a bouquet of wild flowers, or just on clothes after a walk in the forest. These crustaceans are nocturnal, so a person sometimes finds out about them getting into an apartment after a long period of time. vegetation, predominantly decaying, in the trash can they can always find suitable food to survive.

Despite the external resemblance to cockroaches and beetles, wood lice are not an insect at all, but a small crustacean. Woodlice breathe with gills and are very dependent on the humidity of the environment. Once in the house, they look for damp places, so they can be found in bathrooms and toilets, in kitchens under the sink.

Woodlice is often confused with two-tails. Outwardly, they are a little similar, but the two-tailed insects are completely different insects, they have a different way of life and you also need to fight them differently.

Where to start the fight

The appearance of wood lice is often a sign of excessive humidity in the house, because they cannot survive for a long time in a dry and well-ventilated room. But if crustaceans have settled, for example, in a damp basement, they can periodically visit kitchens and rooms in search of food.

The whole house needs to be inspected and tidied up: perhaps woodlice have started up in the attic, where rainwater seeps through cracks in the roof, or in some part of the building where pipes are leaking. If the reason for the appearance of crustaceans was dampness in the basement, it must be dried, ventilated and no more moisture should be allowed to appear in it.

To prevent humid air from stagnating in the house, after washing and cooking food, you need to ventilate the apartment well, and dry damp laundry on the balcony or outside. Ventilation ducts should be periodically cleaned and treated with insecticides; it is advisable to additionally use forced draft hoods in kitchens and bathrooms.

The bin should have a lid, and all vegetables and fruits should be stored in a tightly sealed container or refrigerator to prevent crustaceans from getting to food. At the summer cottage, the accumulation of rotting vegetation, in which woodlice feel so good, should not be allowed, otherwise very soon these pests will appear not only in the garden, but also in the house.

How to get rid of wood lice

Chemicals

Woodlice can be destroyed with the help of many chemicals, they do not differ in special vitality. Suitable for example:

• Dichlorvos "Varan". A universal drug with a wide spectrum of action, kills both insects and crustaceans within a few hours, and provides long-term protection against repopulation. The product is in an aerosol, it is easy for them to treat spaces behind skirting boards and batteries.
• Schabengel. Gel-bait in a convenient tube, it is convenient to apply it in hard-to-reach places, especially in crevices and behind skirting boards. One piece is enough to process 3-4 rooms around the perimeter.
• "Tarax". One of the most effective and any other household pests. After application, a toxic film forms on the treated surfaces, after running along which the wood louse dies after a while, while still having time to infect its fellows;
• Gett. A modern insecticide of contact action without a pronounced odor, allows you to quickly remove the entire population of pests in the house, is almost not dangerous to humans.
• "Tetrix". An excellent tool for combating all household pests, including wood lice. Quickly removes insects and crustaceans from the premises, gives long-term protection against reappearance.

When using chemicals, it is imperative to follow safety rules, protect hands and respiratory tract, ventilate the room after treatment and strictly follow the instructions on the packaging of the selected drug. Although it will not be possible to get rid of insects forever, these funds can guarantee a long-term protection effect.

Fight with folk remedies

A lot of improvised tools in a private house or in the country can serve as tools for the fight against wood lice. Can be used:

• Boric acid powder. Spread in a thin layer in places where crustaceans accumulate or prepare a solution (10 g per 0.5 liters of water) and spray on the floor and walls.
• Salt. It is simply scattered in the corners.
• Dry kvass. Add 100 g to 0.5 liters of boiling water, spray in places where pests have been noticed.
• Chlorine. The floors and walls are treated with a solution of 40 g of bleach and 1 liter of water.
• Wet birch brooms. This is an effective trap for wood lice. Brooms are left indoors overnight, and in the morning they destroy crustaceans that have climbed there to rest.
• Quicklime. A bucket of lime is left for 3 days in a tightly closed room - this is enough for the wood lice to die. The method is inconvenient for use in the house, because it is strictly forbidden to be indoors during this period (it is extremely dangerous to health). It is more convenient to use lime in the country and in basements, where there is no need to visit every day.

Chemical preparations give more persistent and faster results, often only reducing their population in the house, or scaring them away from the human home for a certain period.

Precautions must be taken when using any product. During the processing period, there should be no animals or small children in the house.

In nature, woodlice live in humid corners of forests and meadows, river floodplains. They can often be found in parks, orchards and vegetable gardens. They feel especially good in the last layer of fallen leaves and grass, tops of various root crops. They are nocturnal, during the day they hide under stones, rotten stumps, lying trees, heaps of leaves and branches.

They are unpretentious, eat plant foods, prefer decaying parts of plants, but can damage living green leaves and stems, roots. Woodlice do not experience a lack of food in their natural habitat. So what brings them to human habitation, and how do they appear here?

In apartments they also eat food of plant origin: they eat fruits, vegetables and greens that a person brings into the house for themselves, trades with rotten cleanings in trash bins, do not refuse houseplants, and also eat moldy mushrooms from the walls of wet basements and bathrooms. In multi-storey buildings, a lot of food is found in garbage chutes.

Woodlice grow in damp, poorly ventilated corners of apartments, or in flower pots. They can settle in the closet and on the balcony, especially if vegetables are stored there or there are indoor flowers. But most often they can be found in bathrooms and toilets, as well as in kitchens under the sink and next to the trash can. They go out in search of food at nightfall; when the lamps are turned on, they immediately rush to hide from the light, which is so unpleasant for them, rapidly scattering to the corners.

Sometimes the owners of the apartments do not suspect for a long time about the neighborhood with these secretive creatures, until one night they find them crawling on the floor in the kitchen or bathroom. Home plant owners can find wood lice, loosening the soil in pots, or guess about their presence by the holes that appear on the leaves - traces of the meal of these uninvited "guests".

The reasons for the appearance of wood lice in the apartment

Wood lice can come to the house on their own from the street, or they can get with the brought plants (in pots with soil), with fruits from the garden, vegetables from the cellar, fruits from the store. In the first case, they enter the house through cracks in the walls and floor, through ventilation or through the basement.

Sometimes woodlice settle not in the apartment itself, but in the attic or in the basement, and they come to the apartment only from time to time. This is what attracts woodlice to the human home:

• humidity;
• a large number of shelters;
• darkness;
• the smell of your favorite food;
• calm atmosphere.

Apartments have a lot of secluded shaded corners in which woodlice feel comfortable: they settle behind baseboards, in the crevices of the floor and walls, under baths and behind toilets, behind pipes and household appliances, in ventilation passages. Getting wood lice out of there is problematic, so they live in peace.

In addition, in apartments, woodlice are protected from natural enemies that eat them in the wild, so absolutely nothing prevents them from living and reproducing in peace. But wood lice need moisture and food to survive.

Humidity and food are major factors

The main thing that contributes to the appearance is moisture (they cannot live in dryness) and access to suitable food: vegetables and fruits stored openly or in tightly closed cabinets, cleaning in a trash can without a lid, mold on the walls. Even if wood lice did not come into the house from the street, but were brought here by accident, they can take root if they find secluded damp places and food for themselves.

If the kitchen and bathroom are not equipped with a forced exhaust system, and the ventilation ducts are clogged, then humid air stagnates here, and condensation often accumulates on the walls. The ingress of rain drops through cracks in roofs, leaks of sewer pipes and musty air in basements create the very environment that woodlice need to live.

And even in a dry apartment, where the owners store food in sealed packages, tightly close the trash can and ventilate all rooms every day, wood lice can come from the attic or from the basement, which are quite enough for a small amount of mold, lichens or wind-blown plant seeds to survive.

How to deal with wood lice

By themselves, woodlice are not capable of harming a person, they are rather a sign of an unhealthy indoor climate. In addition to their unpleasant, from the point of view of many people, appearance, apartment owners often complain that woodlice damage indoor plants and encroach on fruits and vegetables. But the main danger is that woodlice create unsanitary conditions, because they crawl in basements, garbage chutes, garbage cans, and carry microbes on their paws that enter human food.

Control methods:

• creating unsuitable living conditions for woodlice;
• traps and baits;
• etching.

First you need to try to find the cause of the appearance of wood lice in the apartment, and then choose a method. Sometimes, to eliminate these animals, a collective struggle with them is required from residents of all apartments.

Destruction of conditions for existence

A clean, dry, ventilated area is not suitable for woodlice. All food products must be stored in places inaccessible to these animals and immediately get rid of fruits and vegetables that begin to rot. The bin should have a tight-fitting lid, and if gaps are found in the floors and walls, they should be caulked.

You should carefully inspect all sewer and water pipes, look under the sink, bathtub and behind the toilet, under the windowsills to see if there are any leaks or condensation, check the roof of the house and repair it if its integrity is broken.

Basements must be well ventilated, and if there are pipe leaks, be sure to eliminate them. In the basements, you need to clean up, and cover the floor with lime (it will kill most of the wood lice).

Bathrooms, kitchens and other areas of the apartment also need to be kept dry:

• ventilate after washing and preparing food;
• clean the ventilation ducts;
• install a forced draft hood in the kitchen and bathroom (preferably);
• make sure that condensation does not accumulate on the walls (adjust the heating system and ventilate the apartment daily);
• do not dry washed items in the house;
• after using the bathroom, wipe the bathtub and floor dry;
• after washing the dishes, wipe the sink with a dry cloth;
• do not allow moisture to accumulate in the coasters under the pots of indoor plants.

Heaters and fans can also be used to speed up the drying out of the premises. will be successful only if the apartment becomes dry. Sometimes breakdowns in water supply and sewerage systems can be eliminated on their own, but if it comes to violating the integrity of common building communications, you should contact the management companies on behalf of all residents. The basement of the house and the garbage chute deserve special attention - the relevant organizations must monitor their cleanliness.

Traps, baits, insecticides, poison

If wood lice are found in flower pots, the soil should be changed or treated with special preparations (for example, Ideal, Aktara, Thunder, Schneckenkorn, Mesurol). They are sold at household chemistry or gardening stores.

It is convenient to treat the places under the bathtubs and behind the baseboards with insecticidal agents in sprays; in open places, powder and liquid concentrates are applicable. Of the chemicals that are in household goods, it helps well against wood lice:

• Dichlorvos. They need to treat the surfaces in those places where wood lice accumulate, and not go into the room for a while. After that, the apartment needs to be well ventilated. A less toxic version of dichlorvos - "Varan", is a modern, effective, odorless dichlorvos.
• "Tetrix". An expensive new generation insecticide. In one application, all wood lice will be destroyed, and the effect of the treatment will last up to 70 days. It is often used by disinfection services, but the drug is not always available at retail.
• "Tarax". It is very effective, economically consumed, 1 g of powder is enough for processing 60 sq. meters. The dry product dissolves in water, the surface is treated with a sponge or spray bottle.
• Gett. A highly toxic drug for wood lice, not dangerous for humans. Important: you cannot use it on surfaces near aquariums without lids, as the preparation is toxic to fish as well. An analogue of the drug "Gett" is the "Master" remedy.
• Scabengel. It is an inexpensive, gel-like bait in a syringe dispenser that can be conveniently applied to hard-to-reach places, such as behind baseboards or pipes.

There are also effective chemicals that do not require the purchase of special chemicals. Can be used:

• Boric acid (or borax). Powder is sprinkled on surfaces where insects have been seen. The powder can also be diluted in water and sprayed around walls, under baths, behind toilets. Boric acid eats away at the upper protective layer of the body of woodlice and kills them.

• Soda, powdered tobacco and hot red pepper (ground). They are mixed in equal amounts and diluted with water. The mixture is sprayed on the places where wood lice accumulate.

• Dry bread kvass. 100 g of powder is poured with boiling water (half a liter is needed). The solution is allowed to brew, and then the room is treated with it.

• Salt. It is scattered in the corners or diluted with water in glassware (3-4 tablespoons per liter) and sprayed around the perimeter of the room.

• Birch broom. It is left overnight in a room (near the walls), where woodlice have started, and in the morning they are thrown away with them: at night, woodlice will surely climb into the leaves of a broom.

• Potato tubers. Holes are cut out in them and left overnight in places where wood lice are most often found. At night, these animals climb into the holes, in the morning they need to be thrown away or destroyed along with the potatoes.
• Quicklime. It is poured with water and left in an apartment for 2-3 days in an open container. Important: lime is destructive for woodlice, but it is also dangerous for people. It is necessary to prepare the solution with gloves and goggles; it is impossible to stay in the house for a period of lime.

Whichever remedy is chosen, you should always follow safety measures and remember about the toxicity of some substances to humans and pets.

How not to confuse wood lice with silverfish

Often another similar creature settling in apartments is mistaken for woodlice. They are similar in appearance, although woodlice is an animal that belongs to the order of crustaceans, and silverfish is an insect from the order of bristle-tails.

Wood lice have an oblong oval body, convex on top and covered with transverse plates of gray-brown or gray-blue color. In case of danger, they very quickly run away or curl up into a ball.

Silverfish are flat and oblong, the color is closer to dark brown, the body tapers towards the tail. They have different nutritional needs and lifestyle, therefore, the ways of dealing with them are somewhat different.

For a successful fight against wood lice, you need to know in what places they most often live. and where to do the processing first.

Woodlice love dampness and moisture, in addition, they are attracted by the smell from the trash can, dirty dishes or food that is not removed from the table for a long time.

The most likely places of their congestion in the apartment:

• under the bathroom;
• behind the toilet;
• behind the sewer pipes;
• ventilation ducts;
• under the windowsill;
• sewer pipes;
• near a trash can;
• behind the skirting boards;
• under carpets, rugs;
• where it is damp, dark and has not been cleaned for a long time;
• under the tiles;
• in a cellar or pantry.

Photo

Reasons for the appearance

The measures needed to control pests are not complicated There are many ways to get rid of unwanted guests. The main thing in this is to start getting rid of woodlice as early as possible and observe all the necessary measures to prevent their return.

If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.