Woodlice are small but nimble creations of brown or gray. White individuals are less common. These creatures have an oval body, a convex back-shell, consisting of solid plates. Only found in humid environments.
Woodlice are crustaceans, although they look like insects. Their ancestors lived in the water, but gradually adapted to the land. Let's take a closer look at the article about wood lice, how they live, what they eat, and also how to get them out of their home bathroom and toilet, if they appeared there because of dampness.
What are the reasons if these insects are bred in the bathroom and home toilet?
In the human habitat area, woodlice comes in damp and dark rooms. That's what makes it appear:
- leaking pipe or mixer;
- puddles remain on the floor after swimming;
- while showering, water flows into the joint between the bathroom and the wall;
- constant dampness in the room due to the fact that the neighbors flooded the top or the roof leaks;
- burst pipe under the house;
- the room is poorly heated or the ventilation system is not working.
A photo
Further on the photo you can see what an insect looks like that lives in a bathroom or toilet.
How do they live and what do they eat?
Licks can get into the bathroom through the drain hole in the bath, through the ventilation shaft, they move through the sewer pipes. Animals can enter the house through windows and doors. On the upper floors they penetrate the attic. Appear from cracks and cracks in the ceiling, wall, flooring.
The moorice feeds on organic matter. In the bathroom, they eat:
- sodden paper;
- soap deposits;
- dirt particles;
- plaque on the tile;
- microscopic fungi.
The weavers settle under the bathtub, behind baseboards or plastic panels, at the joints of the seams. If there are leaks in the bathroom, moisture-loving creatures will definitely choose places behind the pipes. Wet rug in front of the bathroom or a closet with wet bath amenities is a paradise for wood lice. In the high-risk zone - a bathroom in a wooden house. Wood louse (another name for woodlice) sneaks into the cracks of damp, rotting wood.
Having mastered the bathroom, wood lice can move in search of food in other rooms in the apartment. Rooms with house plants are more humid due to frequent watering, and organic residues of flowers are the perfect food for wood lice. In the kitchen there is always something to profit, for example, the remnants of human food.
The better to fight - with the help of professional disinfestation or independently?
Disinsection is the extermination of insects. Although wood lice are crustaceans, pest control also exterminates them. In most cases, you can do it yourself, especially if the animals are not very many.
Independent pest control is of two types: folk remedies and chemical. The first option involves the preparation of a solution or mixture at home. Chemicals for processing premises are sold in stores.
The advantage of self-pest control - cheap, especially if you use folk remedies. The disadvantage is the lack of a guaranteed result. True, the effectiveness of disinsection with chemicals is higher than the destruction of woodlice by popular methods.
The advantage of professional pest control - guaranteed effectiveness. The disadvantage is the high cost of processing the room.
How to get rid of using folk remedies?
- Table salt should be poured into the dark wet corners of the bathroom, by the pipes, under the bathroom. The second option: make a strong water-saline solution and spray in the desired areas.
- At 3 grams of soda, red pepper and tobacco, throw in 1 liter of water, stir, spray.
- 100 g of dry bread kvass dissolved in 0.5 liters of boiling water. Apply the same as previous solutions.
- To dissolve 10 g of dry boric acid in a small amount of water, for example, 120 ml, sprinkle.
- Place birch brooms on damp corners for the night or put wet rags. In the morning there will be a lot of wood lice in such a simple trap. They need to shake out in a bucket or basin and pour boiling water to kill.
We offer to watch a video on how to get rid of wood lice with the help of folk remedies:
How to remove insects that crawl around the apartment using chemicals?
"Ram"
The product is diluted with water and smeared with a brush in the problem areas of the room. After a while, the water evaporates, and the substance dries, turns into a film and acts for a month. "Ram" "works" in a contact way. First, the poisonous component eats away the shell of the wood lice that come into contact with it. Then the infected individuals infect their relatives. Price - 100 p.
"Tetrix"
How to destroy an insect in the bathroom and toilet using this tool? The drug "Tetrix" is very toxic, so it should be applied according to this scheme:
- wear a change of clothes, rubber gloves, a mask, protect your eyes with glasses;
- spray the product, following the instructions;
- after processing for several hours, do not enter the room, and then ventilate it, clean the floors.
Attention! So that children and animals are not poisoned with a toxic substance, they definitely need to leave the room.
Price - 2500 p.
"Varan"
This is also an aerosol, like Tetrix. It is applied similarly. Price - 75 p.
When using you need to be as careful as possible. Avoid breathing vapors and eyes. Keep out of reach of children.
Preventing recurrence
So that after the disinsection the animals do not return, you need to take measures to maintain a normal, not too wet microclimate in the apartment.
- Timely eliminate leakage of pipes when the joints are depressurized.
- In time to adjust the work of the mixer, change the gaskets so that it does not leak.
- Seal the moisture-resistant silicone sealant gap between the bathroom, wall and baseboards.
- Clean up puddles around the bath after swimming. Dry the condensate from the surfaces.
- Do not leave wet towels and washcloths in the bathroom. Wet linen to dry on the balcony.
- To reduce humidity, install an electric heated towel rail in the bathroom, a heater or a heated floor.
- Provide natural air ventilation, check for debris in the ventilation shaft. Periodically keep the bathroom door open for ventilation.
- Strengthen air circulation by installing an exhaust fan with non-return valve.
If after self-destruction of woodlice, compliance with preventive rules, they reappeared, it is imperative to call the pest control service. If the experts recently destroyed the wood lice, and they appeared again, you need to talk with the neighbors. Most likely, the increased humidity in their apartment, and the animals simply migrate. In this case, the problem must be solved together, otherwise the result will not be.
