Where do pill bugs come from at home and in flower pots, and how do you get rid of them?

Pill bugs generally refer to woodlice, which are also known as mouse-negative, fu-pan, mouse-aunt, mouse-sticky, and ground lice. So where do pill bugs at home come from? How do you kill them? How do you get rid of the ones in flower pots? Pest-control expert Xiao Zhi explains that woodlice like to live under rotten wood, decaying leaves, stones, and similar spots, and sometimes they also appear inside houses and courtyards. So pill bugs in high-rise homes may crawl up from the drain, and pill bugs in ground-floor homes may also crawl in from the drain or from outdoors. As long as the home is not damp, they still find it hard to survive.

1. Are pill bugs harmful to humans?

Pill bugs, also called woodlice, are harmless to humans.

Pill bugs are a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, with the effects of breaking blood stasis, promoting diuresis, detoxifying, and relieving pain. Woodlice pose no direct harm to people; in fact, some people raise them for medicinal use or experiments.

However, pill bugs are still pests.

The common pill bug mainly damages tomatoes, rapeseed, cucumbers, and so on. Symptoms: adults and larvae damage leaves, causing notches; in severe cases they can eat the leaf flesh bare, leaving only veins and petioles. Adults are 9 to 15 mm long, ranging from brown to grayish blue, with the edges of each dorsal plate yellowish white; when touched, the body can roll into a ball, so it is also called the ball bug or sowbug. The Toxoplasma it carries mainly invades the human eyes, brain, heart, liver, and lymph nodes, causing corresponding organ diseases. If a pregnant woman is infected, the pathogen can pass through the placenta and infect the fetus, directly affecting fetal development and causing fetal malformation.

2. Methods to completely eliminate pill bugs

1. How do you kill pill bugs on lawns?

1) Do not apply organic fertilizer that has not been fully decomposed.

2) Keep the lawn clean and promptly remove weeds and garbage.

3) Chemical control: when the infestation is heavy, you can spray 10% imidacloprid wettable powder at 2500 times dilution, 20% methomyl EC at 3000 times dilution, 2.5% deltamethrin at 3000 times dilution, 2.5% lambda-cyhalothrin EC at 3000 times dilution, etc. You can also spray 50% phoxim EC at 1000 times dilution in combination with controlling underground lawn pests.

2. How do you kill pill bugs in the home?

1) Pill bugs like dampness, so pay attention to ventilation and dryness inside the house.

Air out seasonal clothing again, then store it in compression bags or storage boxes. Putting some camphor balls in the wardrobe, cabinets, and every corner is a very effective method.

2) Preparing the solution and how to use it

Materials: a spray bottle, chlorine-containing disinfectant such as 84, and tap water. Pour the disinfectant and water into the spray bottle (ratio: 1:5); spray directly at the bugs.

3) Methods to eliminate and kill pill bugs

Methods that do not use medication are not very effective. The medication was applied to various places in the bathroom. The effect on the first day was not great, and not many pill bugs were killed. On the second day the effect was obvious but not thorough; by the third day it was mostly done.

4) Some dead corners in the bathroom and kitchen must be thoroughly cleaned. The drain pipe area must be kept dry; clean up water promptly. Clothing, bedding, and daily items can be taken outside to dry on good-weather days. When at home, keep the air flowing as much as possible. In addition, you can place some desiccant in the corners of rooms. If there are children at home, pay special attention to where it is placed.

3. How do you kill pill bugs in fields?

1) Apply poisoned soil

Mix 2.3% deltamethrin or 20% fenvalerate with soil and spread it on the ground, using 50 to 100 grams of pesticide per mu mixed with 10 to 20 kg of soil.

2) Spray pesticide on the ground

Spray with 50% dichlorvos at 500 times dilution; if after application you cover the ground with a curtain or other covering, the bugs will hide inside because they fear light and die from poisoning.

The reason woodlice and pill bugs breed at home is mainly that the home environment is too dark and damp, providing favorable conditions for their growth. Methods of eliminating pill bugs at home without medication are basically only preventive; if you want to eliminate them, you still need to use some medication.