Silverfish have been around for a very long time and they have been a pest to man for centuries now. This wingless pest is usually a silver gray and tends to move in a swimming motion. It favours damp and humid conditions and is mainly nocturnal. It generally doesn’t carry diseases and can survive without eating for months.
Identifying Silverfish
These are generally small – less than 2.5 cm long and the bodies are tapered. They are covered in tiny scales and they have two long antennae in front. They are known to have life spans of up to eight years and they have three major life stages.
The first life stage is as an egg and these take anywhere from three to six weeks to hatch. Adulthood is reached in about three to four months.
Types of Silverfish
You can usually find silverfish in areas of the home that are not disturbed often – such as the basement or attic and under objects or in bookcases. They can also make themselves at home under baseboards and floors and in the spaces between walls.
Silverfish are capable of very rapid movement and so are tough to spot once the light has been switched on.
For Silverfish to Thrive
Silverfish prefer humid conditions and a moderate temperature range. They are not fussy eaters and prefer starchy ‘foods’ such as books, fabrics, glue. They will often migrate within the house until they find a good source of food.
Prevention of Silverfish
Although not dangerous to people in terms of diseases carried, silverfish can cause a good deal of damage. They could be eating through your treasured photo collection as you are reading this and can cause a lot of damage to important papers in your home.
Defence Pest Management has specially trained teams that will help you to hunt down these pests and to help you to deal with them effectively.
The specialist from Defence Pest Management will also give you advice on how to prevent a recurrence of the current problem.
A big step in combating silverfish is to make the environment a lot less appealing for them. Making sure that leaking water pipes are fixed quickly and efficiently will serve the dual purpose of taking away a source of water and humidity.
Making sure that all areas of your home are well-ventilated will also help to draw out moisture and keep the temperatures more constant. This can, in turn, have a negative effect on the environment for the silverfish.
Boxes of books and old papers are favourite hiding places for silverfish so make sure to store your papers in properly sealed plastic containers that the silverfish are unable to get into.
With everything considered, annual pest control inspections and making the environment as uncomfortable for silverfish as possible are the best ways to go about combating them.
