Woodfishes are not insects at all, as most people think, but small relatives of ancient crayfish. Woodfolds live in a humid environment, as they breathe through the gills.
In nature, they occur quite often, are perceived by humans as pests - as they eat the crop, spread dirt and carry diseases. But it is especially unpleasant when these small creatures get turned up in a living room.
Consider where in the apartment, for example, in the bathroom, and in a private house, these small pests appear and how to get rid of them.
Habitat
In nature
Where do woodlice live in their natural environment? In nature, they can live wherever conditions are favorable - there is moisture and there is a large amount of food. Wood insects feed on semi-decomposed organic matter, root crops, vegetables, eat tender leaflets of plants, can eat spoiled graminoids, rotten fruit.
In the garden or vegetable garden, they can be found under stones, in secluded wet corners of the garden - near the pond, not far from the well, near the rain ditch or sewage system.
In the wild, small crustaceans select habitats near the river or lake, slightly wetlands, natural depressions in stones and soil, where moisture accumulates.
In the apartment
Why in the apartment, especially in a bathroom, these small wreckers get up? For breathing, woodlice need very humid air, so they settle in apartments where conditions for their life and breeding are favorable - in bathrooms, kitchens under the sink, air ducts, where it penetrates and where rainwater accumulates.
Why start up?
Why wood lice, which are often mistakenly considered insects, choose a city apartment as their habitat, which is why there are many of them in attics and basements, what are the reasons for their appearance in a country house?
In the apartment
Consider where do woodlice come from in a city apartment. In apartments, small pests appear most often from common areas.where sanitation standards are not respected. These are mainly basements of the MKD or attics.
In the cellars, woodlice can live for a very long time and successfully reproduce, as it is damp and organic for food:
- mold spores;
- mushrooms;
- grass roots;
- rotting vegetables.
On flowing attic crustaceans can feed on the remnants of grain from pigeon droppings, rotting wooden floors.
From these habitats, wood lice can move through air ducts or through cracks to the first and last floors where residential apartments are located, and if they find favorable conditions there, they will live and multiply.
In a private house
In private country houses pests can be brought from the garden, along with vegetables and herbs. But often small crustaceans make their way into wet cellars, attracted by the food stocks stored there.
Damp, poorly ventilated basement or the current attic, rotting wooden structures of the house, not drying out ditches near the summer cottage, damp sewage systems are ideal conditions for woodlice survival.
How to determine where to breed?
First of all, you need to understand that these creatures breed where there is maximum humidity. Consequently, one should look for their habitat exactly in such places - in the bathroom, under the floor in the kitchen in the sink area. If possible - need to inspect the attic and basement.
In country houses, be sure to go down to the basement and look for masses of pests in dark corners, turn over stones and bricks, check the water supply system and sewage system for leaks.
The invasion of woodlice often leads to the fact that tenants discover the current roof or undermining water supply.
The presence of wood lice in common areas is alarming. The pests themselves can be carriers of disease., but also their presence speaks of high humidity in the premises, and this is the cause of mold and fungus, which is already very dangerous for the health of the residents of the MKD. Finding wood lice, you should immediately call the housing office and call the sanitary control service to check the basements and attics.
If there are pantries or storage rooms in the house where vegetables are stored, they should also be inspected, successively lifting containers where the supplies are poured.
What are the first signals of appearance in housing?
Small crustaceans are nocturnal creatures, so their presence in the house can be detected quite late. Sign can serve:
- spoiled vegetables;
- traces of feces near the garbage can and in the kitchen sink area;
- traces of vital activity in croup or greens.
Also an indirect sign can be dying domestic plants - wood lice often settle in pots of soil, feeding on the roots and leaves of a flower.
If these moments are there, you need to make sure that these are wood lice. For direct detection of crustaceans, it is necessary to inspect the dark corners of the bathroom, the basement or the attic of a dwelling house at night, illuminating all corners, crevices and possible cracks in the walls, basements with a flashlight - lifting objects that are not on the ground. It is under the bricks, turned buckets and folded boards these pests love to nest.
How to get rid?
To get rid of uninvited guests there are many ways - from home to purchased. Means you can use the same as cockroaches:
- crayons;
- traps;
- poison bait.
If there are too many wood insects in the attic or in the basement, special services should be called in to destroy insects.
But all destruction measures will be useless unless they create unbearable conditions for pests..
Therefore, first of all it is necessary:
- to dry a bathroom, having put an additional heater;
- to seal up the gaps in the floor and walls, from where new batches of crustaceans can crawl;
- time to throw out the trash, leaving no waste overnight;
- check all pipes and taps for damage;
- dry the floor in the apartment, temporarily do not dry the laundry in the kitchen and bathroom;
- in the country house thoroughly air the basement and repair the roof, preventing leakage.
Only under these conditions, it will be possible to get rid of wood lice forever.
Prevention of appearance
The most the main thing to do so that the pests do not appear is to keep the house clean and dry.
- Prevent leaks or eliminate them in time, prevent rotting of fruits and vegetables in their storage places, regularly air / dry the bathroom, take out the garbage in the evening.
- In summer houses, it makes sense to dry the basement well in the summertime, creating a draft, and regularly inspect the roof and repair it in time.
- At the dacha plots you should not store a large amount of organic garbage close to the house, a compost pile, where woodlice love to nest, it is better to move to the far corner of the garden.
Thus, wood lice are extremely unpleasant pests that can not only scare with their appearance, but also bring a lot of harm - to spoil supplies, to erode the wooden structures of houses, to carry diseases. For their destruction and prevention of appearance, it is necessary to observe the main condition - dry air. Without sufficient moisture, woodlice cannot breathe. and either die or leave home forever.
