Silverfish - Facts and Pest Control

Silverfish is an uncommon household pest. To those who are bookish, you may sometimes see a silverfish crawling on a book that is old. The Latin family name of silverfish is Lepismatidae. The English name which is silverfish is derived from is because of its silver light gray and fish-like appearance. The natural diet of silverfish focuses on sugar, starch, and carbohydrates. 

They feed on adhesives which are on book binds, papers, books, glue and all other starchy or sugary materials. The most common meal of silverfish is the book. 

That if you go to the library and open a book, you will possibly notice some silverfish escaping in your sight leaving the pages of the book tore down. 

Silverfish is truly hard to exterminate because of its ability to escape with high speed and capability to hide unnoticeably. 

The lifespan of silverfish seems very long because it can last for 2 to 8 years. They have multiple molting processes which are 60 times in their entire life. These small and short creatures ha a very long lifespan.

However, even if silverfish is an uncommon pest, this is not a valid reason on not giving attention to it because of huge infestation that it cause. 

You can find a silverfish in different locations of your house, they can be found maybe in attics, bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry area. They are less unnoticeable because of their size and the amount damage produced by them. 

However, if you try to join each little damage they make, piece by piece, you will realize that it is very severe that’s why they are considered as pest. Here are the tips on how to get rid of silverfish:

1. Proper sanitation
Do not allow any food crumbs sitting anywhere in your house. Silverfish wants a place where there is plenty of food because they know that in that place they can replenish their population and continue their long life. 

So, do not hesitate to clean your house to discourage not just silverfish but any other type of pest to dwell in your house.

2. Avoid a paper mess
As we know about the silverfish, to where they always go, paper is the most common among it. 

Assure that there are no paper hanging around in your house like newsapers, books, notebooks, and any other thing that uses paper, just put all of these on its respective place. 

Failure to do so will encourage the silverfish to dwell inside your house and multiply infesting you and your family.

3. Change the humidity
Silverfish wants a place with high humidity. Areas which is dark and moist is their choice. 

So, if you can change the humidity of your house, lowering it, especially the areas like kitchen, bathroom and laundry area, these are the places where silverfish most commonly go, then you’ll discouraged them to enter your house and kill the remaining silverfish. You can use demudifier and/or fans in lowering the humidity of your house.

4.Use silverfish traps
It is hard to locate silverfish. There is a need to set up traps for them to lure them to get near and be caught without difficulty. 

The type of trap of what I pertaining to is the silverfish trap. This is trap contains delicacy for silverfish but the surface of it contains sticky glue that traps the pest that disables them to escape. You can buy it in your local supermarkets or in online shops.

Just Remember:
If silverfish has a silver skill or ability to bring damage to your house therefore, you must respond a gold type of actions to exterminate them.