What Is Attracting Silverfish To My Jacksonville Home?

Are you seeing tiny, catfish-shaped bugs with six legs, long antennae, and long rear tail-like appendages that look like antennae? Are they crawling around in your bathroom or basement areas? Those disgusting little bugs are called silverfish, and there are a few things you should know about them if they're getting into your Jacksonville home, beginning with what attracts silverfish to your home.

What Attracts Silverfish?

There are only a few things that attract these strange, alien-looking insects to your home. Understanding what attracts them can help you to make your home resistant to them.

• Moisture — If you have dampness around your home, you're likely to attract silverfish. These insects require lots of moisture to survive. When they get into your home, they'll be drawn to areas that are damp or humid.
• Darkness — These are nocturnal insects that prefer to hide in dark places. If you have external structures that provide dark voids underneath, silverfish will take advantage of them. They'll also get under objects in your yard that provide dark hiding places.
• Food — Silverfish subsist on a wide variety of food sources. One source of food that draws them into a yard is the presence of living and dead insects. The more pests you have, the more silverfish pests you're going to have.
• Cracks — Silverfish are thigmotactic. That is a fancy word that means they like to be squeezed into tight spaces. If you have objects near your home that have lots of gaps and cracks or you have cracks in your foundation walls, these insects will feel right at home.

Are Silverfish Pantry Pests?

Silverfish love to carb up. They can get carbohydrates from starchy foods in your pantry, such as sugar, coffee, flour and cereal. This can cause them to be pantry pests. But, unlike pests that are categorized as pantry pests, they aren't going to live inside your pantry foods. They'll come to feed and go elsewhere to reproduce. Inside your home, they'll lay their eggs in cracks and other tight spaces, not inside a box of Cap'n Crunch.

Do Silverfish Damage Homes?

Yes. While they won't damage the wood of your home, they feed on the items your home is made of, such as wallpaper, paint, plaster, carpeting, and more. This makes them a little bit of a structure-infesting pest. But, unlike pests that are categorized as structure-infesting pests, such as termites, powderpost beetles and carpenter ants, silverfish will create damage on the outside, where you can see it and be annoyed enough to do something about it. The damage isn't going to sneak up on you and cost you a small fortune to fix.

Do Silverfish Damage Belongings?

Yes. They have been found feeding on photos, books, important documents, clothing, and more. If you have these pests in your home, they may damage valuable keepsakes.

How Do I Get Rid Of Silverfish?

There are a few things you can do. They go hand-in-hand with the list of attractants above.

• Install fans or dehumidifiers inside your home to make it too dry for silverfish.
• Always put the fan on after taking a shower or a bath.
• Refrain from keeping water in your jetted tub between uses, at least until the silverfish are gone.
• Fix leaky pipes and faucets.
• Check your gutters and get them cleared out if there are obstructions.
• Inspect your exterior foundation and seal any gaps, cracks or holes you find.
• Remove any items that are resting against the outside of your home.
• Replace any wet or rotting wood on your home.
• Put sensitive pantry items, such as flour and sugar, in airtight containers.
• Contact a licensed pest control professional. That's where we can help.

Silverfish Control

Eliminating silverfish is a complicated process. This process is best performed by a professional to ensure that the least amount of pest control product is used. If you have questions or you would like to schedule service for your Jacksonville area home, connect with us today. We're here to help you with all your pest control needs.