Here’s a pretty common household pest that doesn’t get much spotlight…literally! The silverfish is usually mistaken for other pests such as the firebrat and centipede. The biggest main difference between this varmint and the others is their colour; silverfish are silver, shiny, and fast little varmints! They typically measure up to 1-3 cm in length and can live up to 5 years without a nearby food source.

If you’re not sure about these insects being a problem, here’s the lowdown. Silverfish are nocturnal insects (though if your infestation is big enough, they can even come out during the day!), preferring to nest where it’s dark and moist. You may be able to find them in the corner of your garden shed, inside cardboard boxes, in between the pages of books, in or near the pipes and drains in your kitchen, bathroom, attic, or bedroom, and under the baseboards of your home.

The silverfish’s diet primarily consists of paper, dust, cardboard, and cloth. This means bad news to any and all book lovers! Books are one way the silverfish can travel from place to place without even being detected. They will travel through any crevice or gap where they cannot be reached, and like we said, they usually come out at night to eat.

Thankfully silverfish are not poisonous, nor can they sting or fly into our faces. They can only crawl. However, their diet of paper and dust are exactly what make them such destructive varmints as they can and will create further damage to a building’s infrastructure.

You can learn more about the silverfish and how and why it infests buildings in our blog post.

If you’ve caught sight of this silvery fish-like insect in your home, give your local Pest Boss a call. Proper extermination and treatment is required to get rid of silverfish; otherwise, they’ll keep coming back. We’ll get you, varmints!