Silverfish Bug

Silverfish, known in Latin as Lepisma Saccharina, is an insect that can be no less than a nightmare for homeowners. It is known as fishmoth due to the fish-like movements it makes when it is running.

The silvery scaly color of their patches gives them the name silverfish bug. Mostly found in white, grayish brown, and silvery bluish color, silverfish bugs are around one inch in length.

There are dominantly three stages in the life cycle of the silverfish bug―egg, nymph, and the adult stage. The female silverfish lays hundreds of eggs in cervices and cracks in the backyard or the walls of rooms. Within weeks, it lays various batches of eggs, and all hatch in one month's time if they find optimum temperature.

The eggs are small, oval, and white. After they hatch, nymphs, that can be regarded as the stage before adults, emerge. The nymphs take nearly three months to develop into an adult. A fully-grown silverfish bug lives for about two to three years.

Silverfish love feeding on carbohydrates, sugars, and starches. Since they are prevalent in the house, they find a variety of food sources to feed on, particularly shampoos, book glues, clothing material (linen, silk), and various dead insects.

If they infest a house, then you can rest assured that you've to keep your damp clothes and paper items quite safe, as these bugs have a fascination for moist clothes and paper.

The reason behind this is that, they drink water, and that is why they are mostly found in the damp clothes and other moist places of the house. The silverfish bug is considered by experts to be the most destructive pest for stored food items.

These bugs can be annoying pests for any homeowner, and eliminating them involves a series of steps. The first step is their identification. Mix a thick paste of flour and water, and spread it on a cardboard. Keep the cardboard in an area where you suspect the presence of infestation.

The signs of stretches and typical insect eating ways will tell you that the bugs are present in that vicinity. Even a glue board is a good idea to catch these notorious insects. When the silverfish bugs are about to mate, they perform love dances. Once you know the areas that have been infested, clean all those places.

Cleaning, vacuuming, steam cleaning, and altering the temperature, are some of the best techniques that can help you get rid of them. Silverfish thrive in warm temperatures, so changing the temperature can affect their survival.

Many things like old books and clothing can be kept in the freezer for some time to kill them. Laying bread in bottles to attract them is also a good idea. You can use masking tapes, as silverfish can't slide on plain surfaces.

The captured bugs can be put in buckets full of soap water, to kill them. In case all these measures are not effective, then you can contact an expert pest control team and take their help on removing these bugs from your home. Their infestation can be controlled by proper care and remedial measures.

Spiders and centipedes are some insects that feed on silverfish. If not controlled in time, these bugs can wreak havoc in your house. So getting rid of this little pest is a task that should never be put off to another day.