If you go to a party and ask ten people if they have seen silverfish in their house, 50% or more will ask: what is a silverfish? Few have heard of silverfish, and fewer have seen them because they are elusive creatures hidden in the dark corners of many homes and yards that evade detection during daylight hours. Whether or not you have heard of or seen silverfish, they exist and may be living in your house.
Silverfish do not cause structural damage to homes, but they can be destructive. If you suspect you have silverfish, you need the Kansas City Metro pest control team from Augustine Exterminators. We have stopped silverfish from being a problem pest in Greater Kansas City area homes since 1966. Our reputation for success is so powerful that our name scares pests to death!
Why Are Silverfish Called Silverfish?
Silverfish insects are primitive pests predating dinosaurs by approximately 100 million years. Despite their longevity on this planet, few know about them and their characteristics. The following will help you understand why and how they got their name:
- Body: Silverfish often have an elongated, flat, 3/4-inch, silver or brown body covered in metallic-like overlapping scales.
- Movement: Silverfish wiggle like fish when they move.
- Environment: Silverfish need high levels of moisture.
- Appendages: At the end of its elongated, tapered thorax, there is a parallel projection as long as its body and two shorter lateral filaments. These three bristle-like appendages perform sensory functions.
- Antennae: At the front of this insect are two extended multi-segmented, thin antennae that act as sensors.
- Legs and eyes: Silverfish have three pairs of jointed legs and compound eyes.
Although sometimes mistaken for house bugs that look like silverfish like centipedes and firebrats, the rear appendages and fish-like movements distinguish silverfish from their insect peers.
What Is The Purpose Of Silverfish?
Some pests, like mosquitoes and silverfish, don't seem to have a purpose, but they do! Silverfish play a role in maintaining balance in the ecosystem by consuming dead plants, insects, algae, lichens, and moss. Regarding silverfish, the circle of life cycle continues with earwigs, spiders, and centipedes using silverfish for their food.
Habits And Behavior Of Silverfish In Kansas City Metro
Silverfish live in high-moisture, humid areas; they prefer locations where the temperatures are between 70℉ to 85℉. Outside the home, silverfish live under tree bark and inside bird nests. Silverfish in the house live near drains, leaky pipes, moldy wood, damp cardboard boxes, and around skylights and canister light fixtures. Silverfish are in attics, basements, crawlspaces, garages, living rooms, bedrooms, and anywhere a humid, high-moisture environment exists in the house.
Silverfish are elusive insects that live in dark places and feed only at night. They quickly flee from light and dart into cracks and crevices to avoid detection.
What Can I Do To Remove The Silverfish From My Home?
The presence of small silverfish may indicate a more sinister problem because the same environmental conditions draw disease-spreading pests like cockroaches and structural-damaging pests like subterranean termites and carpenter ants. Furthermore, silverfish can damage paper products and fabrics in your Kansas City home. To get rid of silverfish naturally in the house, do the following:
- Seal cracks in the foundation and around windows and doors.
- Provide adequate ventilation in high-moisture areas.
- Repair leaking pipes and replace moldy wood.
- Eliminate paper and fabric clutter.
Although maintaining a clutter-free and dry environment inside and outside your Kansas & Missouri home will help keep silverfish away, you need our pest control professionals from Augustine Exterminators to stop a silverfish invasion. We will inspect your Kansas City Metro area home, determine the scope of the infestation, and develop and implement a custom strategy based on our five decades of silverfish eradication practices throughout each blog.