Mokritsa: an insect in an apartment, how to get rid and prevent the appearance

Good day! Recently I decided to start a spring cleaning in the apartment. Everything went fine until I got to the bookcase.

Pulling them from the shelves, I noticed how something small fell to the floor. Take a closer look, and this is a wood louse!

She slammed and continued to clean further. But while I was cleaning the shelves, I found probably four of these.

And then also in other places several individuals. It was then that I thought about the fact that it would be necessary to solve this matter somehow. Having finished cleaning, she immediately began to reflect on what would help get rid of these pests.

I tried different methods. Some were effective, some were not very, but, fortunately, pretty soon I got rid of these creations in my apartment.

Want to know how to get rid of wood lice in an apartment? Where do they come from and what methods of struggle exist? And how to prevent their appearance? Then read on.

Who are we dealing with

Mokritsa (RogseSco scaber Latr.) Is a representative of the crustacean class (Crustacea), belonging to the Oniscidae family in the isopod (Isopoda) order.

In contrast to the vast majority of crustaceans, wood lice do not live in water, but on land, and we find them in the forest under the bark of stumps, under stones, in moss. Woodlouse is also found in old walls, in damp buildings, especially in cellars, why this species is called cellar wood lice.

The body of a wood lice is flat, adapted for life under the bark, in crevices, etc., from above is somewhat convex and covered with a dense chitinous cover impregnated

lime (as is often the case with crustaceans); This cover provides the animal with good protection against various external influences.

Ahead we see a small head with rather large eyes and long jointed antennae (this is the second pair of antennae corresponding to the long antennae of crayfish), while the first front pair is very small and hidden under the head shield.

The thoracic section consists of seven scutes, one on top of the other. The posterior part of the body is a small abdomen, consisting of segments, of which the latter has the shape of a triangular shield; a pair of the last abdominal legs sticking out on the sides of it in the form of small leads.

Turn the wood louse upside down with its abdominal side - now we will see how it begins to sort out with its breast legs (there are 7 pairs of them). On legs separate segments are well visible.

Mokritsa (RogseSco scaber Latr.) Is a representative of the crustacean class (Crustacea), belonging to the Oniscidae family in the isopod (Isopoda) order.

In contrast to the vast majority of crustaceans, wood lice do not live in water, but on land, and we find them in the forest under the bark of stumps, under stones, in moss. Woodlouse is also found in old walls, in damp buildings, especially in cellars, why this species is called cellar wood lice.

The body of a wood lice is flat, adapted for life under the bark, in crevices, etc.n., from above a little convex and covered with a dense chitinous cover impregnated

lime (as is often the case with crustaceans); This cover provides the animal with good protection against various external influences.

Ahead we see a small head with rather large eyes and long jointed antennae (this is the second pair of antennae corresponding to the long antennae of crayfish), while the first front pair is very small and hidden under the head shield.

Turn the wood louse upside down with its abdominal side - now we will see how it begins to sort out with its breast legs (there are 7 pairs of them). On legs separate segments are well visible.

Behind the pectoral legs we notice a series of paired plates (b pairs) covering the abdomen from below. These are the modified legs of the crustacean.

Let's try to turn them off with tweezers; we will find then that on separate segments of the abdomen there are 2 plates on each side - these are 2 branches of the abdominal legs (branched "legs are characteristic only of crustaceans). These are the respiratory organs.

In addition, at the base of the gills there are special glands, the secretions of which also support their moisture. The outer plate is much denser than the inner one; bright spots are visible in the front plates - this is a system of branching tubes that contains air; in all likelihood, the outer plate also serves to breathe wood lice (analogy to the insect tracheal tubes).

The food for woodlice is mainly decomposed plant matter, although they can feed on living parts of plants, especially young plants, tender roots, etc.

Some, usually insignificant, harm can be brought to woodlice by plants, such as greenhouses, flower gardens, and vegetable gardens. The organs of food intake (jaw) are ala, so there is no need to consider them on an excursion.

A means of protection, in addition to the aforementioned hard back cover, is also the ability of wood lice to curl to some extent and thus protect their delicate abdominal side.

Sometimes you can find a female wood louse where, on the chest, between the legs, there will be a delicate white sac filled with eggs: the female lays eggs, and even young ones that come out of the wood lice are left in the bag for some time and then leave it.

Another common woodlice species found in the forest is the steppe woodlice (Onlscus murarlus L.), which leads a similar lifestyle. In total, about 40 species of terrestrial wood lice are known in Russia.

Lifestyle

They are found on land, they prefer areas with high humidity and acidic soil: for example, under stones, under a tree lying on the ground, trying to stay close to ponds.

They can settle in damp places of human habitation (bathrooms, cellars of the cellar, etc.). You will hardly see them during the day, and when it begins to get dark or at night woodlice leave their shelters in search of food.

They move smartly and quickly. When threatened, their lives instantly turn into balls.In April-May, crustaceans breed eggs, reaching high numbers in favorable living conditions. Life expectancy of the animal: 9-12 months.

What do woodlice eat

P. scabers is a detritophage. This means that it mainly feeds on dead tissues that have already begun the process of decay. However, in some cases, it can attack living plants, which will create some problems for gardeners, gardeners and lovers of indoor plants.

Therefore, I want to reassure those of our readers who worry about their cultures in the garden or flower pots - the harm, if there is any kind from this kind of creatures, is so insignificant that you should not even think about it.

Behavior and reflexive actions

Woodlice are not complex enough to actively seek favorable conditions for their lives, so their movement is controlled almost completely by reflexes. In order to try to find an environment where they will lose less moisture, and then stay there, wood lice can affect factors such as speed and turning speed.

If you put a wood louse in a dry or hot environment, you can observe how the creature increases its speed and spins more often to try to get out of such an environment that is so unfavorable for itself.

In humid conditions of a dark, cool space, they will sharply slow down and often stop altogether. To avoid drying out, most woodlice (including P. scabers) pull together each other parts of their “carapace”, which leads to “sticking” and a reduction in the size of the body of the woodlice.

Thus, their surface area of ​​the body through which water can be lost is reduced. Another unique feature of this type can be considered another behavioral mechanism, which is called - alternating turns.

The chaotic movement in the form of turns in different directions helps the wood louse to escape from the harmful environment, in particular - its predator more efficiently.

Where do wood lice come from? Features of reproduction

Mating woodlice, as a rule, occur at night, and it is very rarely seen in the eye for this reason. When a male finds a susceptible female, he rises to her back and “drum” her back with her forelimbs and at the same time “licks” her head with his mouth apparatus.

When moving, the male does not leave the female, passing her seed to one of several female genital openings. Then he moves to the other side and continues the process into another genital opening.

Fertilized eggs pass into this chamber filled with liquid, and after hatching, young individuals crawl out of the brood bag when they are fully developed.

Subsequently, individuals go through a series of molts until they reach puberty, increasing in size at each stage, and the appearance of individuals between these molts is similar in structure. Sometimes young individuals are called larvae of the wood lice, which is not entirely correct.

It is worth noting that the back of the body of the wood louse molts several days before the anterior half, therefore, wood lice at this moment will look with different colors of each half of the body. The "fresh" part, as a rule, is always lighter. By the way, discarded their own cuticles, woodlice eat themselves.

Woodlouse, as already noted, is everywhere where it is cool and damp. This may be a space under the floor or a bathroom in a city apartment. Woodlice always exist, but they are not always visible, and their populations are rarely large. Therefore, in case of accidental contact of an individual with eyes, it often seems that they appeared. In fact, they have long been here.

The spread of woodlice

Mokrits can be found in a wide range of habitats, almost anywhere. The most productive areas are those that are primarily provided with sufficient moisture, and are also protected from direct exposure to sunlight. These are numerous raw crevices, areas on the earth covered with something, a bunch of rotting leaves, and others.

In addition, raw leaf litter, rotting wood, loose bark, a pile of stones in abandoned quarries, as well as ordinary household waste are the best places to meet these living creatures. Woodlice lead a more active lifestyle at night.

Natural enemies of woodlice

The only living organisms that hunt exclusively for wood lice are spiders of the genus Dysdera. Many other species of living organisms belong to the category of optional enemies of woodlice, for example, toads and lizards.

Extremely rare birds eat wood lice, it is believed that due to too much nitrogen released by their body surface. As someone else's food, wood lice are used, as a rule, only at a young age.

The role of wood lice in nature and human activities

It is immediately worth noting that the beneficial effects of woodlice far outweigh any damage that they can do.

However, these creatures have a poor undeserved reputation as pests, mainly because they wander around the apartment mainly at night, as a rule, in order to avoid supersaturation with water in the presence of high humidity, or vice versa - in search of water to replenish her reserves of his body.

In the garden, woodlice rarely attack live plants, preferring to eat vegetation that has begun to decompose. However, in greenhouses, they can sometimes nibble seedlings, but this rarely causes any significant economic damage.

In the litter of deciduous forests, as well as on compost heaps, woodlice perform a vital role. They chew on dead plants into small fragments and place them as fecal granules, which quickly decompose.

In addition, wood lice can also feed on mushroom spores on plant leaves, which prevents the development of many plant diseases.

The deposition of fecal granules containing fungal spores in the deep wet word of fallen leaves can be important in stimulating putrefactive decomposition in the layers of forest humus and the formation of a fertile soil mass.

Thus, the activity of woodlice accelerates the decomposition of organic substances and helps to return the necessary nutrients to the soil.

Harmful wood lice

1. For the human body and pets. These small creatures do not represent a particular danger ─ for all their far from aesthetic appearance, they are not aggressive, they do not buzz, they do not penetrate into the body, that is, they are not direct carriers of viruses and bacteria.

   They cannot bite a person, just like they cannot intentionally crawl into his ear (if only by accident).However, they can spread on their feet various fungi and lichens that are harmful to health (although this is only an assumption not yet proven by facts).

2. For housing. The apartment (house) has the wettest rooms ─ bathroom, kitchen, toilet, basement. The probability of the appearance of wood lice in them is a sign of the presence of some leaks in home water supply and sewage systems, even invisible to the eye.

   Parasites become dangerous if they are divorced innumerable (although this is an extremely rare phenomenon), directly proportional to their appetite. First of all, under the threat of extinction are plentifully watered ornamental plants in any room of the house, growing in fertile soil.

   A sign of the appearance of pests in pots with indoor flowers are lumps of dry soil in pallets, reappearing 1-3 days after cleaning the latter.

   Where do the gluttonous parasites in flower pots come from? Most often they are brought in by the owners themselves, along with the plants that were exposed to the outside of the cottage to ventilate.

   In the cellars of private houses, winter stocks of vegetables are usually stored, which also become the prey of wood lice if they are divorced too much. A little ventilated, dark and humid room with an abundance of food ─ a true paradise for wood lice. These rooms include the bathroom. True, there is no need to talk about the abundance of food in it.

3. For garden and greenhouse plants. The main harm of wood lice is spoilage and destruction of vegetation. They not only eat roots, but also compact the soil of the site in which the plant lives, delaying the penetration of moisture and oxygen into it.

   Woodlice can cause significant harm to seedlings and young plants that have thin and delicate roots, as well as young skin on leaves. Because of these parasites, the death of the entire crop in a summer cottage is possible.

Where do wood lice come from

With wood lice many have encountered. Someone meets them, scooping up trash from the site, and someone can see the crayfish going down to the cellar. They live under fallen leaves, in humus. They need moisture, woodlice in the apartment settle in places of accumulation of dampness - a bathroom, a toilet, a kitchen, a basement and an attic.

If wood lice are settled in the apartment, how to get rid of them and where to look for habitats is a priority. First of all, you need to examine the places of accumulation of water, basements, baseboards in the kitchen, under the rug in the bathroom, under the pipes, in cabinets with lying laundry, on damp books, under the sink.

Is the plumbing flowing, is there any debris lying for a long time in a secluded place. Often they are attracted to moist earth in flower pots.

In apartment buildings, insects often enter the room through ventilation grills, through sewer pipes, if they do not like the conditions (the room is dry), wood lice do not even linger, and go to look for the most favorable housing.

On the top floors of wood lice, the apartment appears, going down from the attic. Therefore, it is not bad to check the attic space.

In a private house, close attention should be paid to greenhouses and hotbeds, they get there with humus. In the cellar, the cause of their appearance may be rotten vegetables. In the garden - these are broken bricks, scraps of branches, stones, rotting foliage. And in each case, the recipe for how to deal with wood lice is individual.

What is the danger of wood lice in an apartment or in the bathroom?

Nothing really. Absolutely harmless insects, they do not bite, do not sting, do not tolerate any disease, and generally do not cause any harm to humans, unless they have a not pleasant appearance.They are also completely harmless to your home, food and clothing.

Despite this, it is very difficult to destroy wood lice in an apartment. If the fight against wood lice is carried out, it is important to remember that insects appear precisely because of dampness. Therefore, first of all, you need to dry the apartment.

In order to get rid of wood lice in the apartment, you should remove all waste that can feed them. It is advised to get rid of insects by means against ants, another remedy against wood lice, you can dissolve one hundred grams of alum in half a liter of boiling water, and spray this solution directly in places of localization.

In order to get rid of insects in the bathroom, you can sprinkle salt along the walls and corners, a solution of boric acid will also help.

How to get rid of wood lice: preventive measures

Did wood lice appear in the apartment? Excess humidity is to blame. The fight against wood lice in the apartment begins with the removal of moisture, because crustaceans breathe with gills and they need moist air. In addition, it is necessary to limit their access to food.

Each room should be regularly ventilated, and ventilation in the bathroom, bath and kitchen should be given more attention. The process can be accelerated using fans and heaters.

Before you remove the wood lice from the apartment you need to put in order plumbing, water and sewer pipes. Do not leave dishes and garbage in a bucket overnight in the sink.

Indoor flowers affected by wood lice should be transplanted. Rinse the roots of the plant and treat with a solution of potassium permanganate. Old pots, even after processing, reuse is not recommended.

Those who live outside the city often wonder, wood lice in the house - how to get rid of them in the cellar and basement? In this case, good ventilation is also effective. Humidity will be reduced by quicklime placed in special containers or simply scattered on the floor.

How to get rid of wood lice in the garden? On the plot, you also need to clean up: get rid of fallen leaves, fragments of bricks and stones, scraps of trees and branches, pieces of polyethylene and other garbage.
In greenhouses and greenhouses, it is advisable to dry the soil and conduct moderate watering.

Fighting insects with folk remedies

Before effective insecticides appeared, people learned to fight insects with the help of improvised means. If you have repeatedly noticed wood lice in the apartment, use the following home tips.

Save the plants

Woodlice can affect some types of indoor plants. First of all, this is orchids. If rescue measures are not applied, the flower will die in two weeks. The same goes for ferns. What are the signs of a woodworm infection?

Woodlice make the earth dense. Therefore, it is important to take action. To do this, carefully remove the flower from the pot, brush off the roots from the ground and rinse them in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. After the plant you need to plant in new soil. A used pot is best thrown away, as it can attract wood lice.

Ready-made anti-lice products

In modern stores you can find many chemical products that will also help get rid of wood lice. They will be needed if folk recipes did not help.

Among such means: universal gel bait “Schabenge” l, “Varan”, which also effectively destroys moth, “Mole”, “Ideal”, “Thunder-2” and many others. Using any of the ready-made purchased products, it is very important to strictly follow the dosage and follow the instructions so as not to harm surrounding plants and animals.

Chemical products from woodlice industrial production

If folk remedies did not help and wood lice remain in the apartment, how can you get rid of them again? In such cases, it will be necessary to apply funds from woodlice industrial production. This need arises quite rarely, because other remedies for woodlice are quite effective.

So, wood lice were wound up in the bathroom, how to deal with them, if alternative methods were ineffective. You can take ordinary dichlorvos and spray it in places where pests accumulate.

Another effective way to remove wood lice in an apartment is to use Tetrix or Tarax. They destroy many insects, these services are most often used by professional services and it is quite difficult to find them in free sale.

Concentrated preparations are produced and diluted in water. On a liter of water you need to take 10-50 ml of the drug. After spraying, not one wood lice in the bathroom will survive.

In household plots and in order to process indoor plants, “Ideal”, “Thunder” and “Thunder -2” preparations are used. They can be bought at household chemical stores or in stores for gardeners.

Tarax

Powder, the weight of the bag is 1 g. This amount is enough to process 60 square meters. m
The insecticide was developed by Russian scientists specifically against wood lice. Its composition is harmless to humans and animals (safe even for children).

The principle of action is contact. One or several woodlice come into contact with a surface treated with a powder diluted in water, carries poison on its paws and antennae to its relatives, after which their mass death occurs. It is not addictive among pests.

The product can also be purchased in liquid form (in ampoules), as well as diluted in a glass of water and spray the places of accumulation of crustaceans with a syringe or spray gun.

Despite the focus of Tarax against wood lice, the drug with no less success destroys cockroaches, fleas, bugs and ants. The effect is noticeable in the next 2 hours, after which it persists for a few more years.

Tarax is rightfully considered one of the best drugs in the fight against wood lice, and there is more than one explanation:

1. it is not necessary to process the entire living space, it is enough to spray only the places of accumulation;
2. special knowledge and skills are not needed (ease of use);
3. one package is enough for a large area (60 sq. m.);
4. odorless;
5. safe for all households;
6. there is no need to remove the corpses after processing (they disappear, as if there were no parasites in the house).

And, of course, the price of Tarax is only about 50-80 rubles, depending on the region, cannot but rejoice, and this is with such a high efficiency of the product!

But there is one drawback: in the original, the drug is almost impossible to purchase either in ordinary or in specialized stores. Perhaps the easiest way is to order the tool on sites or online stores working in the direction of the destruction of parasites.

Gett

This is a French tool (a newer version of it on the same basis is Get). The effectiveness of the drug lies in the contact of insects with microspheres sprayed in places of accumulation.

It can be sold as an aerosol or concentrated liquid. The latter should be diluted in water in a ratio of 1/10 (100 ml per 1 liter of water) and spray with it the room of their spray gun.

The main substance in the Gett aerosol is chlorpyrifos, penetrating under the covers of woodlice, into their respiratory and digestive systems. Thus, the parasites have a tripartite effect, which does not give a chance of survival.

It is possible to poison insects with the help of Gett by applying the drug in places of accumulation and from time to time shaking the can to more efficiently spray microcapsules.

Among the advantages of the tool can be noted:

Despite the effectiveness of the drug, there are still some disadvantages:

1. since microcapsules do not stay in the air, all places of accumulation of wood lice will have to be found and processed;
2. very expensive - a bottle of 100 ml on average costs about 700 rubles.

Dichlorvos Varan

Of all the varieties of modern Dichlorvos from wood lice, it is better to use Varan. This domestic remedy is not toxic, safe. It has a nerve-paralytic effect on parasites due to permethrin and cypermethrin in the composition.

The product is inexpensive (from 50 to 100 rubles, depending on the concentration of the substance and volume), volatile (therefore, it is necessary to process it in a mask), easy to use. The effect is achieved very quickly: the insects that hit the jet die in a matter of minutes, the rest within 5 hours.

Tetrix

Dutch insecticide produced in the form of an emulsion. Available in bottles of 250 ml and 1 liter and in cans of 5 liters. For processing, the product should be diluted in water in a proportion of 10 ml per 1 liter and spray the infected area.

Pest control should be carried out strictly in a special protective form, glasses, and a respirator. Dishes, food, personal hygiene products must be cleaned, animals and children removed from home.

Another disadvantage is the high price. A 250 ml bottle can be purchased for 2,000 rubles, 1 liter for 5,000, and a five-liter canister for 21,000 rubles.

The active substance in Tarax is cypermethrin, which ensures the complete death of parasites after 2 days. The residual effect of the drug lasts another 70 days. Perhaps this is the best poison of all available, subject to the willingness to pay a lot of money for it.

Aktara

As you know, the main food of woodlice is plants, and indoor plants are no exception. In addition, these crustaceans compact the soil in flower pots, and the plant literally suffocates and dies due to the fact that the access of air to the soil becomes impossible.

Aktara - an excellent tool for tillage from woodlice. The drug has a systemic, but not contact effect: the poison spreads through the tissues of the plant and for some time it becomes toxic to the crustaceans.

In order not to harm the plant when using Actara, it is necessary to strictly follow the dosages indicated in the instructions. The product is mixed with water for irrigation in a certain ratio or a slightly lower concentration. Additionally, it is possible to spray the plants with Aktara diluted from the spray gun.

In addition to the funds listed and many others, you can always turn to specialists from the SES to kill any parasites, including wood lice. This is especially appropriate if there is no money to buy expensive insecticides or there is no time or desire to do it yourself.

Why aren't wood lice in the apartment?

Entomologists have discovered that wood lice have a high resistance to insecticides. In addition, the humid environment is ideal for them, which means emulsions, liquid concentrates, wet treatments will not be effective. They eat organic waste, that is, they can eat bait gels.

The food method of destruction in this case is most relevant. The gel is applied using a tube or syringe dispenser. But with a large number of pests, this method should be combined with insecticide treatment of their main routes of movement.

Thus, the number of individuals decreases, but quickly recovers. Females survived, and therefore their offspring are already resistant to one or another type of insecticide.

The appearance of wood lice will prevent cleanliness in the apartment, good ventilation and moderate humidity. But, depending on the circumstances, even compliance with all recommendations and rules, as well as the use of quality products, will not help get rid of pests.

And yet, do not purchase disinfectants and insecticides in the markets, there are specialized stores for this. Many of these drugs purchased "with hands" are unsafe and do not have certificates.

Prevention of the appearance of wood lice in the apartment

In order to prevent the occurrence of insects in the apartment, it is necessary to check all ventilation passages, attics and basements, plumbing and sewer systems, and if there is a leak, eliminate it. It is necessary to maintain dryness in the apartment, throw out spoiled plants on time and not create favorable conditions for them.

If possible, dry things on the balcony, not in the room. Close the gaps, as through them, wood lice can penetrate into your apartment. Clean the kitchen cabinets, sink and stove.

If wood lice are constantly returning to your house, or you cannot completely get rid of them, then it is better to contact the sanitary and epidemiological station.