Silverfish
Anthrenus scrophulariae, Linnaeus
Have you noticed holes and stains on your freshly wallpapered rooms? Silverfish easily find a home in your wall crevices and cracks where they continue to create marks and holes on your walls.
RISK LEVEL:
LOW
MEDIUM
HIGH
Risk is defined as how much damage each pest can be to you, your family, or your home
- You may notice dark marks or holes in wallpaper.
- Often found in the summer months.
- May find them in any room of your house, though they often build habitats near cracks and crevices.
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| Class: | Order: | Family: | |
| Insecta | Thysanura | Lepismatidae | |
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| Size: | Silverfish and bristletail adults are about 1/2-3/4 in (12-19 mm) long, not including tails. Bristletails and silverfish are wingless, with flattened bodies tapered from head to rear, covered with scales. |
| Color: | Silvery to gun metal colored, one species with dark lines along length of body. |
| Characteristics: | They have 3 long bristle type appendages on the end. Antennae are long, threadlike. Compound eyes are small, widely separated. Silverfish, 1/2 in (12-13 mm), fourlined silverfish, 5/8 in (16 mm) and gray silverfish, 3/4 in (19 mm) are representative species found in the U.S., including southern California. |
| Geographic Range: | Throughout the United States and the world. |
| Food: | Depends on species, but all can survive for weeks without food or water. They roam to search for food, but stay close to it once they find it. Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) prefer protein to carbohydrates, are cannibalistic, and pests of paper. Gray silverfish feed on wheat flour and beef extract, especially in wallpaper paste, preferring papers with high chemical pulp content, such as cellophane, tissue, onion skin (instead of newsprint, cardboard, brown wrapping paper ); they also eat linen, rayon, cotton (not wools or natural silk). Fourlined silverfish, not so limited by temperature and moisture, live and feed indoors and outdoors, can digest cellulose, are sometimes found in attics near wooden shingle roofs, or under bark of Eucalyptus trees in California. |
| Biology: | Varies with the different species. Eggs are laid in cracks. Nymphs molt a number of times. Silverfish and bristletails breed in a variety of places, in almost any room of the house, as well as in commercial structures. Some species can digest cellulose. |
Prevention Tips For
Fabric & Paper Pests
Fabric & Paper Pests
- Use dehumidifiers in moist areas to make conditions unfavorable for infestation
- Periodically inspect natural products such as linens, leather, etc for carpet beetles
- Keep natural clothing (linen, leather) in heavily zippered garment bags
- Use repellent materials in garment bags at all times
It only takes a few minutes to start protecting your home today.
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