Some insects could seemingly care less whether or not people see them. Others, like silverfish, make every effort to avoid the limelight. In fact, you might never know silverfish are secretly living inside your home. As nocturnal insects, silverfish are active while most people are sound asleep. They prefer dark, humid areas such as garages, attics, sheds, kitchens, and bathrooms, but wonโt hesitate to scurry across a bedroom floor. The brown-gray to the bluish-silver appearance of their tapered bodies coupled with their wiggly walk earned them the silverfish name. They often lurk in cabinets or inside cardboard boxes and may also deem a pile of damp clothing a good nesting place.
If you are noticing these pests around your home, you may be wondering what you can do to get rid of them. The experts at Florida Pest Control are here to share everything you need to know about silverfish.
What Are Silverfish?
Silverfish have powerful appetites that translate to a lot of damage within our homes. Paper and photos make for ideal dining as do sugary or starchy substances like carpet glue, book bindings, wallpaper, plaster, and some paints. And those are just a few of the items on the silverfish menu. Most often, youโll notice silverfish damage long before seeing an actual silverfish.
When people do encounter silverfish inside the home, it often happens in bathrooms. You may see them in the sink or bathtub or crawling along the floor, near a wall. They move fairly quickly and rush to find cover, often squeezing under baseboards as soon as the lights come on.
How to Get Rid of Silverfish
To discourage silverfish from entering your home in the first place, there are a few things you can do. To prevent silverfish, there are two crucial steps you can take:
- The most important thing you can do is control humidity inside the house. They prefer to live in areas with 75-95 percent relative humidity. That might sound high, but itโs not uncommon in Florida. For that reason, air conditioners and dehumidifiers are vital for making your home environment less attractive to silverfish. You can also take steps including fixing leaky pipes, caulking baseboards, and eliminating standing water.
- Whenever possible, store items in plastic bins with lids, rather than cardboard boxes. Cardboard boxes tend to be one of the silverfishโs most favorite places to hang out. Not only do silverfish like cardboard, but roaches also do too! The corrugation of the cardboard creates a nice place for them to call home.
Dealing With a Silverfish Infestation?
If you donโt stumble across a silverfish, however, how are you supposed to know they covertly live in your home? Well, you probably wonโt know for sure without a professional inspection. If you have suspicions (most likely based on damage around the house), ourย household pest control serviceย is a perfect option to eliminate these secretive insects.
Contact Florida Pest Control today to schedule an inspection!
