Silverfish are small, inconspicuous insects that live in warm and humid places in our home. They are generally harmless and almost imperceptible to humans, but if there are too many of them, they can make our lives very difficult. How do I get rid of silverfish from home?
Silverfish( Lepisma saccharina ), sometimes also calledsilverfish , have been alive for ages close to the man who provides them with food and often shelter. Silverfish are not dangerous to our he alth, but they are not always welcome in our homes.
Silverfish - what do they look like?
Silverfish are wingless insects with a length of about7-10 mm . Their body is covered withsilver chitinous shellresembling a scale (hence their name), and they have long antennae on their heads. Silverfish are very agile and fast, so they are quite difficult to catch.
Silverfish - where are they?
Silverfish came to Europe fromtropics , therefore their mainstay are warm and humid places, such as bathrooms, kitchens in our homes, and bakeries. In apartments, they usually hide in the gaps between floor tiles or panels, under carpeting, in kitchen cabinets, drain pipes, as well as in dark corners with cloths or a damp mop.
Since silverfish have anocturnal lifestyleand don't like light, it's not easy to spot them. Sometimes we have them at home and we don't even know it. And they live long for such small creatures, because on averagefrom 2 to 8 years !
Silverfish - what do they eat?
The favorite food of silverfish isorganic residuescontaining sugar (bread crumbs, rice, groats, flour), human epidermis, hair, but alsoorganic adhesives ,dead insects , andcellulose , which is probably the most severe for humans. Silverfish have the ability to digest cellulose, which means that their menu also includes toilet paper, books and paper wallpaper. They will also not despise cotton, linen and silk, and even mold.
Interestingly, silverfish are very persistent and can survive without food evenyear !
They themselves are a tasty morsel, among others for common earwigs as well as spiders.
Silverfish - are they?pests?
Generally, silverfish live insymbiosiswith humans, without hurting them (we call such a dependence in the animal worldcommensalism ), despite this some consider silverfish to bepestsas they damage human property such as books and important documents. Since they also eat food scraps, they are also accused of contaminating it. This is not entirely true, as silverfish do not transmit diseases that are dangerous for humans, but for some people the mere sight of small "worms" near food may be discouraging.
Silverfish - how to get rid of them from home?
- It is known that silverfish breed preferably in places where it is warm and humid all the time (over 60%), but they do not like drafts. It is therefore worth taking care ofproper ventilationof all rooms in the house, especially the kitchen and bathroom - ventilate the latter after each bath.
- In addition to good ventilation, the basis in the fight against silverfish isthorough cleaningto cut off these small insects from their food source. Remember, however, that silverfish can survive for a long time without food, so it's worth keeping clean all the time. All loose products should be poured into airtight packages, and no crumbs should be left on the countertops, tables and the floor, which are a breeding ground for these insects.
- Silverfish don't likepungent smells , which is why you should spray the scent of ginkgo, cinnamon, rosemary or tansy at home. They also do not like the scent of lemons and lavender.
- Natural opponents of silverfish - apart from tweezers and spiders, which we rather don't like to have at home - are alsocats . They can successfully track down these insects and neutralize them.
- You can also set silverfisha trap in the form of honey , which will lure these insects at night and prevent them from escaping. Such a trap has to be destroyed the next day.
- If nothing else works, as a last resort, you can resort to more radical methods, such aschemical preparationsattracting and neutralizing these insects, but be careful, as some of them may be poisonous to us or pets.
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