- the essentials in brief
- How can woodlice be combated?
- Effective home remedies
- Prevent
- Are Woodlice Beneficial or Harmful?
- Where do woodlice live?
- When an isopod curls up
- What do woodlice eat?
- The woodlice in the profile
- Worth knowing and special features
- frequently asked Questions
Woodlice are disgusting to many people. But if you take a closer look at the crustaceans, you will come across an interesting way of life. They don't necessarily have to be fought. There are certain reasons why the supposed pests appear in the house.

Table of Contents
Show all- the essentials in brief
- Fight woodlice
- Effective home remedies
- Prevent
- Useful or harmful?
- habitat
- food
- Characteristics
- Worth knowing and special features
- frequently asked Questions
- Woodlice can be killed with diatomaceous earth. Beneficial insects are a gentler variant.
- Simple home remedies are usually enough to get rid of the isopods. They are attracted to potatoes or damp cloths and are easily taken outside.
- To prevent them from coming back, the causes must be researched and eliminated. Woodlice like moist conditions and perform useful functions as decomposers. They prefer to live close to humans.
- Woodlice protect their offspring in a special way. They differ from insects and have unique ways of life. With their respiration and excretion, they are adapted to life on land.
- pour into cracks and crevices
- Sprinkle high traffic area
- distribute around a lure
- baking powder
- cinammon
- sage
- Water damage from reeds in the wall
- leaky basement walls that allow moisture to move inwards
- moisture rising from the ground
- Drying rack with damp laundry
- Dryers that are used without a waterlock
- organic waste or vegetable and fruit stocks
- shrews
- Hedgehog
- be crazy
- birds
- in the house: feel comfortable in damp basement rooms in rooms with high humidity
- in the raised bed: moist soil under dense vegetation provides optimal living conditions
- in the garden: Stones or flower pots are ideal hiding places
- Place flower pots on the pot feet or gravel so that no moisture forms under the soil
- Ventilate the bathroom after showering and do not leave wet towels on the floor
- Dry laundry in well-ventilated rooms
- ventilate in winter to prevent the masonry from getting damp
- Molting occurs when calcium stores on the underside of the abdomen are full
- the hind part sheds its skin first
- eventually the head sheds its old skin
- do not have a protective wax layer
- have gill-like breathing openings
- Cuban isopod: Porcellionides pruinosus
- Giant Rattle: Porcellio hoffmannseggi
- Black and yellow isopod: Porcellio haasi
the essentials in brief
How can woodlice be combated?
Tadpole Shrimp can be fought with simple means, so you don't have to resort to poison immediately. Consider whether you really need to kill the animals. In the rarest of cases, woodlice become a nuisance, so you can get the woodlice out of the house with gentle measures.
kieselguhr

Diatom flour is an effective, natural remedy for woodlice
If you want to destroy woodlice without chemicals, diatom meal proves to be effective. The powder, which is made from fossil diatoms, is dust-fine and consists of sharp-edged crystals with a large surface. It is harmless to users and is used to destroy numerous arthropods.
Application:
The fine crystals block the respiratory openings that are distributed over the body. As a result, the woodlice can no longer breathe and suffocate. With regular and direct use, woodlice should no longer be a problem within four days.
deploy beneficials
Steinernema carpocapsae nematodes have been used successfully for some time to control woodlice. The nematodes themselves are not mobile, which is why they are used in the form of traps. The trap contains an attractant that attracts the woodlice. Upon contact, the nematodes penetrate the woodlice, where they secrete bacteria. These decompose the arthropod from the inside. Such traps only work at temperatures above twelve degrees, since the activity of the nematode is stopped under these conditions.
Effective home remedies
With simple methods you can capture or scare the animals. Attractants work all the better when you have eliminated the cause of the woodlice infestation. Then the crustaceans only find optimal living conditions in the area of the trap. Tackling the root cause is the only solution to getting rid of woodlice permanently. An occurrence always indicates suboptimal conditions in the house.
Potato as bait
When cooked, the root vegetable is a real treat for woodlice. Rotten potatoes are attractive and can be used as a lure. Place the root on a plate and place a crumpled and dampened cloth next to the meal.
Place the plate in the affected room and wait. The animals eat the food and then retreat to the damp hiding place. Take the entire plate outside the next day so the Tadpole Shrimp can escape.
Damp wipes
If you don't have potatoes on hand, two large cloths will suffice as a trap. Dampen the fabric and spread a cloth on the floor. Drape the second piece of fabric in folds onto the background and keep it damp with a spray bottle for the next few days. The woodlice will discover the new hiding place for themselves. Pick up the bottom cloth and gather it into a sack that you carry outside.
alcohol
Put a shot of high-proof alcohol such as spirits in a bottle and place it on the floor. Insert a small piece of wood into the opening so the woodlice can crawl into the bottle. They are attracted to alcoholic fumes and remain trapped in the bottle. In order to save the animals, you should check the trap regularly and free it from isopods.
Clay Pot Trap
Soak a clay pot in a water bath so that the pores are completely saturated with water. Then drain the pot well and dry the vessel. Fill it with wood shavings or crumpled newspaper and lightly spray the material with water.
You can also add plant debris to the clay pot to increase the attractiveness of the trap. Lay a coarse-meshed wire mesh on top of the pot so that the material stays in place. Turn the pot upside down and place it in the room infested with woodlice. You should regularly check the trap for hermits and set them outside.

Essential Oils
The aromas of various aromatic plants and herbs have a repellent effect on numerous pests and woodlice. By laying out fresh herbs or spices, you create a barrier that prevents or restricts access to the premises. The obstacle should be five centimeters wide and renewed regularly, otherwise the volatile aromas will have no effect.
Annoying Substances:
Prevent
If woodlice appear in the house, this is a sign of excessive humidity. The arthropods have remnants of what used to be gills, as they evolved from aquatic life. It prefers a humidity of at least 70 percent. If the animal occurs in the bathroom, basement or garage, you should track down the cause of the excessive humidity.
This increases the humidity:
If you want to get rid of woodlice permanently, you need to address the cause of their activity. Make sure that the arthropods cannot gain access to the interior spaces. Seal possible entry points with putty, silicone or clay. This also applies to cracks and gaps on windows or doors.
As a crustacean, the woodlice needs moisture. Dry air kills her.
Ventilate properly

Proper ventilation is important to keep woodlice out
Regular ventilation alone reduces the humidity. In the beginning, open windows and doors when the outside temperatures are as cool as possible. A quick ventilation of five to ten minutes is sufficient to prevent the house from cooling down completely. If the humidity has dropped, daily airing in the morning or evening for 15 minutes is sufficient.
Storage technology for fruit and vegetables
If possible, consider storing potatoes and other supplies in hanging nets. This ensures good ventilation and woodlice do not get to the food so easily. Alternatively, you can store vegetables and fruit in well-ventilated boxes. Damaged or overripe fruits and tubers should be removed, as these are particularly attractive to woodlice.
Check potted plants
Woodlice often get into the apartment with plants that are taken to their wintering quarters. If the soil feels damp and smells musty, the crustaceans feel comfortable in the substrate. Allow the soil to dry thoroughly before you bring the bucket in. To be on the safe side, you should lift the root ball out of the pot and check the substrate for hidden passengers.
Are Woodlice Beneficial or Harmful?
Crustaceans are among the beneficial creatures that do not pose a threat to humans. In rare cases, the woodlice represents a storage pest, because it can regard stored vegetables as food. When it eats through root vegetables, mold spores can build up in the feeding passages and rot the food. However, this behavior is the exception. Woodlice are among the beneficial insects and perform important tasks in the ecosystem.
To use
Woodlice belong to the decomposers that decompose organic material and thus keep nature pure. They break down and digest dead parts of plants. During their two-year life, the arthropods produce a lot of humus. The bound nutrients are released and can be used by plants. In this way, the crustacean completes nature's nutrient cycle. Woodlice on the compost are extremely effective decomposers that speed up the breakdown of kitchen waste. They are also on the menu of numerous wild animals:
Edible
Woodlice are rich in calcium, of which they contain up to 40 times more than other insects. They convert the nutrient and store it in the exoskeleton and bones, improving their stability. Therefore, the creepy-crawlies are also popular with survival experts, who use the easy-to-catch isopods as emergency food. They are almost tasteless and can be eaten raw or roasted.
Where do woodlice live?
Woodlice depend on high humidity, which is at least 70 percent. Their eggs and larvae die off if the air is too dry and adult woodlice find it harder to breathe and dry out. Therefore, the arthropods hide in damp niches or in the apartment during the day:
The natural habitat of the animals is the litter layer that forms in the forest or under bushes. Woodlice stay in the vicinity of their food and can therefore be found in decayed plant remains or rotten wood, which is interspersed with fungal mycelia. Between 50 and 200 isopods live in an area of one square meter. They tirelessly crawl around in and on the ground and can penetrate to a depth of 30 centimeters.
digression
When an isopod curls up
Woodlice is not a species that curls up. This behavior is exhibited by the roller lice, which protects itself from danger. Rolled up, the animals are able to survive even in drier habitats. Rolling up protects against excessive water loss. In addition, their respiratory organs on the hind legs are better developed than in woodlice, which is also an adaptation to drier habitats.retreat in the basement
In modern cellars, the humidity is usually so low that woodlice do not find optimal living conditions there. They can become a problem in old vaulted cellars that are affected by rising and penetrating damp. Stored supplies offer the creepy-crawlies optimal food resources.
Because of their sociability, isopods rarely come alone. They gather in small groups within a few minutes and merge into a kind of nest, which dissolves when disturbed. Therefore, examine all niches in the vicinity of the found animal.
Kitchen and Bathroom
Woodlice are rarely found in the bedroom or living room. But they often appear in the bathroom, because the humidity is slightly higher here. In the kitchen, the isopods are attracted to dog or cat food that is open in the bowl. They retreat into gaps between wooden floorboards where the humidity is higher. The crustaceans often get into the living area from the basement. Optimal entry points are gaps around heating pipes that lead through the masonry into the basement.
Prevention tips:
What do woodlice eat?
The nutrition of the arthropods is mainly limited to dead organic matter. Living plants are not normally on the menu of woodlice. Occasionally they will eat potatoes that are ready to be harvested or feed on stored fruit and vegetables. Woodlice do not waste nutrients and therefore also eat their own droppings.
tips
You can easily tell that a woodlouse has eaten your potatoes. The clod has only one hole, which served as an entrance and exit. It's about three millimeters in diameter.
The woodlice in the profile
Woodlice have 14 legs and a tail plate equipped with tactile organs.
The term isopod comes from the Latin term asellus, which means little donkey. They bear the scientific name Porcellio scaber.
Porcellio | scabber | |
---|---|---|
Latin | porcellus, -i | scaber, -bra, -brum |
German | piggy | rough, mangy, unclean, shabby |
Woodlice belong to the land isopods and are characterized by an unmistakable physique. Their carapace has the shape of a half ring and is finely jagged. This has a slate to yellow-grey coloration. The animals are rarely colored red and spotted black.
reproduction
The courtship behavior of woodlice starts with a waving of the antennae. The male then crawls onto the female's back and assumes a diagonal position to access the female's genital opening. They have two of these on each side. After fertilization, a female carries between 25 and 90 eggs on her body. With this high rate of reproduction, the crustaceans make up for their losses at the hands of enemies.
development

Woodlice molt around 15 times before reaching sexual maturity
The eggs remain in a fluid-filled sac on the female's ventral side for the next 40 to 50 days, even after the larvae have hatched. These molt 14 to 16 times before reaching sexual maturity. It takes about three months for a baby woodlice to grow into an adult. Additional molts occasionally occur during their two-year life:
Worth knowing and special features
The woodlice is not an insect but belongs to the crustaceans. In her kindred, she is the only species that has been able to adapt to permanent terrestrial life. There are a total of around 3,500 different species of isopods that can look back on a long history of evolution. The oldest finds of fossil woodlice are 50 million years old. Many isopods probably developed around 160 million years ago, when the continents were still connected. Today, the families of the woodlice can be found worldwide.
This distinguishes woodlice from insects:
immune system
Tadpole Shrimp have an interesting immune system that is reminiscent of that of humans. It is able to recognize bacteria. If the animals have previously come into contact with certain bacteria, the immune system recognizes these organisms and decides on the further procedure. If there is a risk of disease, the immune activity is increased. This process is normal for the human immune system. The simply knitted crustaceans are something special.
metal detector
Woodlice are able to absorb metals and store them in small fat globules. The higher the concentration in the soil, the more the animals store. This has a positive effect on their height. Woodlice that live in soils with a high metal concentration grow larger. Therefore, people use woodlice as metal detectors.
Ammonia excretion
The terrestrial crabs are traversed by a water supply system. Since woodlice do not produce any urine, they have to remove the resulting ammonia from the body in a different way.This happens via the circulating body fluid. Ammonia is released into the air via the body's surface through evaporation. This ability secures the life of the animals on land, because they would lose too much liquid through the production of urine. The ammonia-free liquid is then used to moisten the gills.
breathing
Woodlice have developed tracheal lungs in the course of their evolution, which are located on the hind legs. They have additional gills, with which the animals can absorb atmospheric oxygen via the body surface. However, these gills are greatly reduced and only work in exceptional cases. Woodlice absorb most of the oxygen through their tracheal lungs.
tips
Turn the isopod on its back and look at the underside. You can clearly see the tracheal lungs because they are white because they are filled with air.
frequently asked Questions
Can you breed woodlice?

Breeding woodlice is very easy
Woodlice are great for breeding because they don't require a lot of attention. Only the living conditions should be optimal for the animal to feel comfortable. There are various types available commercially, as these are preferably fed to bred amphibians or reptiles.
Frequent feeding and breeding isopods:
The University of Münster is the founder of an isopod workshop and provides detailed information on keeping terrestrial crayfish. There are a number of experiments here that invite you to explore the woodlice.
What enemies do isopods have?
The line of predators is long. The Great Woodlice Hunter is a species of spider that specializes in woodlice. Woodlice produce larvae that are parasitic and feed on isopod hemolymph and organs. They spare vital organs until the end in order to be able to use as much as possible. They then pupate inside the crustacean and leave the dead body as an adult fly.
Insectivores such as hedgehogs, shrews, frogs and toads also feed on isopods. They occasionally fall prey to little owls, slow worms, and even ground beetles, harvestmen, or centipedes. Iridovirus is a deadly disease that causes infected isopods to turn blue or purple.
Where do woodlice come from?
Woodlice originally come from Western Europe and the Atlantic region. They were spread worldwide by humans. They feel comfortable in the human environment. The isopod is often found in damp basements, which is where it got its German name from. In Central Europe, the woodlice is the most common and widespread species among the woodlice. It lives mainly in the litter layer of forests with moderately humid conditions. Woodlice are typical in stables, greenhouses or on the compost.
Are there several species of woodlice?
The woodlice is a separate species with the scientific name Porcellio scaber. There are other species that occur in similar habitats and are also common in gardens and basements. These include the woodlouse Oniscus asellus, which requires slightly higher humidity than the woodlouse. In contrast to the woodlice, this species has a rather smooth shell.
The woodlice Armadillidium vulgare is another species native to Europe, which is mainly found in the Mediterranean region. The supposed giant woodlice from the sea is Bathynomus giganteus, which belongs to the genus of giant woodlice.
How can woodlice be effectively attracted?
Since the crustaceans prefer to feed on dead plant material, you can use old vegetables as bait. Overripe or already rotten carrots and potatoes are particularly attractive to the animals. While they are feeding on the lures, they are easy to catch and release outside. Arrange the root vegetables on a plate for the useful helpers. This can then be easily lifted and taken outside without the woodlice escaping.