What Attracts Silverfish and How to Prevent Them
Spotting a few insects in your home is not uncommon, but if not careful this can grow into an infestation. Knowing what is attracting insects into your home is the first step to prevention.
Small blue silverfish by Joseph Berger, Bugwood.org
Every pest is different and different aspects of your home would be attractive for them; so what lured bees into your place maybe unattractive for ants and termites. Behavior, habitat, diet, and lifestyle of pests and bugs play a major part in this.
Same is the case with what attracts silverfish. These primitive insects have unique eating habits and lifestyle. Check out what’s in your house that attracts silverfish, and some preventive measures to thwart their attempt to invade your living space.
What Attracts Silverfish?
Humidity
Silverfish, like most of the insects and pests, look out for places with ample moisture; therefore their favorite hangout places include bathrooms, kitchen, basements, and crawlspaces. Silverfish reproduce at a rapid rate and for breeding, they need places with a high level of moisture; this condition is essential for their needy and vulnerable offspring to survive.
Humid Climate
Though the house’s own humidity plays a major role, it’s not the only thing what attracts silverfish. Several other factors also play their part. Though silverfish are very adaptable and resilient insects, still they need moisture for survival and therefore sometimes the favorable outside humid climatic conditions are the reason behind their growth (despite all your preventive measures).
Food
Food is the basic necessity for survival for all living creatures and silverfish are no exception. Unlike humans, they don’t have advance resources to fulfill their dietary needs, therefore they tend to live closer to their food items.
So, no matter how much you try, you’ll still have some of the products which attracts silverfish to your place and they’ll happily munch upon them. It’s quite difficult to keep silverfish away because of their variant food choices.
Their favorite foods are those rich in protein and carbohydrates; they often invade food storage areas and take in items like flour, grains, cereals, oats, etc. What attracts silverfish besides these items, is glues and adhesives because of their starchy content.
They scrape book bindings because of the paper glue and ingest the tiny particles whereas they scrape papers and photos because of their cellulose content which they are quite fond of.
This eating habit even led them to scratch away wallpapers and cardboards. Therefore, they are quite problematic for libraries, bookshops, museums, and storage business.
In some cases, they even bite pure cotton, linen, silk or other light clothing items to fulfill their dietary needs. Sometimes they even sink their teeth in animal-based materials like leather, wool or things made from them like clothing items or upholstery.
Tranquility
Silverfish are shy insects which don’t roam around freely and prefer dark, secluded places to live where there are least chances of getting disturbed. Apart from food and humidity, its peace and tranquility they fondly look out for. Every house provides them with their favorite quiet places, sometimes in cracks and crevices and sometimes in attics and basements and thus inadvertently attract them to your place.
It’s not easy to spot silverfish in your home because of their swift-moving habit and their ability to instantly hide in tight and cramped spaces upon crossing path with humans. If you suspect silverfish presence in your home, then extensively search for all the possible hideouts in your home.
Check the storage rooms, garage, basements, bathroom, kitchen, and attics; go through old storage boxes which you haven’t opened in years. A thorough inspection may lead you to the traces of silverfish. You can also set a silverfish trap around the favorite spots of the insect; if in upcoming days a silverfish got trapped in it, then certainly you are facing an infestation in your home.
Dark Spaces
Though they love to relish the humid environments, they have the capability to survive in even dry conditions, but one thing they can’t stand by is light. Bright sunlight is hell to them and in summers they move towards darker, dingier and cooler corners of your house like basements. That’s why sometimes they invade indoors because of the harsh outdoor weather conditions.
How to Prevent Them?
Store Items in Plastic Containers
Silverfish are very fond of cellulose present in papers and cardboard boxes; so an effective way to prevent them from ruining your stuff at home is to start storing items in air-tight plastic containers. Whether there are bulk food items or old photos, store them in plastic boxes and remove one of their favorite food sources from your house.
Mothballs
A simple yet effective way of keeping silverfish away from your closets and from your clothes is to put mothballs. These are much helpful in keeping these damaging pests away from your expensive clothes.
Check for Leakages
Thoroughly check your plumbing and pipework to find out any unwanted leakage which might be the source behind moisture in your home which in turn would be inviting silverfish to your place. Fix all the pipe leakages and dripping faucets what attracts silverfish which have been unnecessarily increasing the humidity level of your place. This not only will keep silverfish away from your place but will also prevent other pests and bugs from invading your house.
Bathroom Fan
Silverfish love to live in damp and temperate conditions and bathrooms have it all; therefore in case of silverfish infestation, you’ll spot them around bathtubs and washbasin. To keep them away from your bathroom, it’s essential to keep it ventilated and get rid of moisture in the bathroom as much as possible.
For this purpose, it’s advised to run the bathroom fan and exhaust fan while taking bath and for 20 minutes afterward. This will help in clearing the moisture from the air and will make your bathroom less attractive for silverfish.
Keep Your Home Dry
Insects especially silverfish love damp and dark places, so if you want to avoid the irksome presence of these bugs, keep your home dry as much as possible. For this purpose, keep your windows open during the daytime and let the sun do its work.
If the outside climatic conditions of your region remain mostly humid, then it’s better to invest in a dehumidifier. This not only will keep silverfish away but is also beneficial from the health perspective.
Vacuum Crevices
Silverfish avoids light and love to hide in dark corners, cracks, and crevices of the house. They also lay their eggs in such secluded places where they aren’t visible to people and where there are negligible chances of getting disturbed.
Vacuuming such areas and corners will effectively suck out the hidden silverfish and their eggs and prevent them from growing further. Dispose of the vacuum bag instantly to ensure that they won’t crawl out again.
Knowing what attracts silverfish and these preventive measures will aid you in keeping these irksome insects away from your home, but if somehow they’ll land in your home then contact an exterminator to prevent your possessions from becoming food for silverfish.***
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