About Silverfish

Identification

• A silverfish is rarely longer than a half inch and has a tapered body shaped much like a carrot--thicker on one end than on the other. A silverfish has very tiny and fine scales covering its flat and slender body and is a dull silvery to brownish color. Silverfish possess two long antennae in the front and have three thin bristles on their rear end. This insect goes through a three stage life cycle and can live for up to eight years in some instances. Silverfish will lay its eggs virtually any time of the year. The eggs take from 20 to 43 days to hatch and the silverfish will have changed into an adult by the end of three to four months.

Types

• Silverfish can most often be located in a home in types of places, such as the attic or basement, and around such objects as sinks, bathtubs, bookcases and closet shelves. It can easily fit and live behind baseboards and underneath floors as well as in door frames and spaces between walls. The silverfish is on the move at night and can run very rapidly, so it is very hard to spot once a light is turned on. It prefers a humid and damp area if possible, with a preferred temperature range of 75 to 90 F degrees.

Considerations

• The diet of the silverfish can include such things as fabrics, newspapers, books, glue, and even wallpaper pastes. It will eat anything with a trace of starches or complex carbohydrates, which are often an ingredient in adhesives. Silverfish can live off of the cellulose that exists in shampoos and shaving cream. It can even survive on fungi and molds and will make its way all over a house in search of a good food source until it finds one.

Prevention/Solution

• While it does not cause diseases in people, silverfish can be a nuisance. Large numbers of them are capable of ruining books and paper goods along with fabrics and wood, on which they can leave a stain. They can be controlled by eliminating sources of excess moisture in the home and insecticides applied to cracks and crevices where they have been suspected to be will kill them. Boric acid is an excellent agent to use against silverfish, since it is not highly toxic but is long lasting when applied in places where silverfish frequent.

Expert Insight

• Silverfish are often found in attics because they are dark and people tend to store items, such as old books and newspapers there, which a silverfish can make a meal out of. When it is seen by humans it is most often in a sink or bathtub. The silverfish will climb into a bathtub or sink seeking the moisture present there and then be unable to scale the slippery sides to make an exit. It is not unusual to find the empty skins of silverfish, as it will shed them many times during its adult life.