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While you look out for bookworms in your house, Silverfish is highly likely to cause paper damage. This translucent insect can scare you never like before if you found the same at your place. Therefore, the question of do silverfish bite? It arises pretty frequently, and one must know the answer to it. Silverfish looks scary with its multi-legged structure and how it moves around the books.
Any human being can relate it to some blood-sucking insect, and therefore, one prefers to stay away from it. However, the century-old myth must be broken, and we shouldn’t be afraid of these silvery pests. Do Silverfish bite? No. Numerous studies in this field signify how silverfish are harmless to human beings. Even though the pest loves to feast on books, clothing, food, wallpaper, and carpets, they will surely not infest your body if they go hungry. Let’s solve the question Do Silverfish Bite?
However, if your neighbor couldn’t relate to you, mentioning the pest as fish moths or bristletails can help them figure it out. These special names are associated with the three long appendages that hang from the end of their body. Some of the standard features that help recognize a silverfish are –
- Very tiny in size (about 12 to 20 millimeters in length)
- Six legs
- It comes in a combination of colors like white, silver, and brown
- Primarily visible in humid conditions and comes out during the night.
If all the features match, you have indeed identified a silverfish at your place.
Do Silverfish Bite?
The straight answer to the question is No. However, it’s essential to understand why?
On experiment and thorough research, it is found that silverfish have weak jaws which aren’t strong enough to pierce through a human’s skin. Many people misunderstand Earwigs as Silverfish, which are capable of breaking the human skin.
However, if you think you must not be worried about your books and other things at your place, then you are wrong. Silverfish can bite their food sources. Instead of a bite, it looks like a scrape or long drag. Therefore, silverfish can cause long-term damage to your place. Similarly, they can damage the fabric, books, wallpapers, and other paper items. Apart from it, they leave around their fecal matter (yellow residue) as they move forward.
If you see yellow marks on your books out of nowhere, believe it’s the work of silverfish, and there’s a lot of damage to your house.
If you thought that it’s all that silverfish can do, you’re mistaken. These evil pests can shed off their skin or a process called molting, which can trigger allergic reactions. People facing allergic issues related to dust can see trouble breathing and, therefore, must take serious care of this situation. Similarly, many studies have also concluded that silverfish can’t do more than that since they don’t carry any pathogens. Thorough research work has helped solve questions like Do Silverfish Bite?
How to get rid of Silverfish?
Well, having pests at your place is indeed not a great idea. If you have identified some at your place, it’s high time to use the extermination mode. While sealing up your home helps in these situations, it wouldn’t be enough to get rid of silverfish. Therefore, just asking the question, Do silverfish bite? It is not enough, and one must be aware of the other complications.
One of the intelligent tactics is to use dehumidifiers to reduce the moisture for silverfish. However, if that doesn’t work, follow the few methods mentioned below.
#1 Insecticides
One of the best ways is to use insecticides to deal with the silverfish infestation. With so many chemicals in play, it gets difficult for silverfish to survive in the environment, and therefore, they suffocate and rush out of the area. However, if the environment is not dealt with properly, the actions aren’t effective enough.
If a dehumidifier is not used to dealing with the moisture present, it can get tricky. As silverfish can go a long time without feeding on something, setting the chemicals bait trap might not be an effective solution. Therefore, discuss it properly with exterminating companies out there. With their helpline number, you can clarify all the related queries.
However, if things are too late for you, find insecticides with the following chemicals to get faster results.
- Tetramethrin
- Phenothrin
- Bifenthrin
- Synergized pyrethrin
- Cyfluthrin
Any of these chemicals can provide good results. If you even find all of them in one, it is a must to buy and experience.
#2 Natural Solutions
If insecticides are not your way to solve things, then using natural solutions might help you get results. A few of the tactics we believe in are –
- Use Insect Traps – While most of us are still worried about using proper insecticides, things can be solved with sticky insect traps. Place these baseboards in different corners of your room and see how efficiently it captures all of them. The main crux is placing something papery on the same, which helps attract the silverfish.
- Deal with damp areas – Well, silverfish mostly find a home in damp and dark areas, so infesting their home is the right way to do the same. Places like basement storage areas, bathroom sinks, and others are easy to deal with. Eradicate these places and then find new spots in your kitchen and garage that can be infested simultaneously.
- Diatomaceous Earth – One of the best products to deal with silverfish is the diatomaceous Earth available at every home improvement market. This product contains fossils that have jagged edges. When the silverfish tries to move through the same, they kill themselves. In simple words, there isn’t an escape once they get in the same. Sprinkle it at every place you doubt and wait for the next 24 hours. This will completely eradicate silverfish from your house, protecting all your books and furniture. However, don’t forget to vacuum the place at the end.
How to Prevent Silverfish?
It is always better to prevent silverfish from entering your house in the first place. Even after well-sealing the house, silverfish can find different ways into your house. However, other ways are using which one can prevent silverfish. Therefore, avoiding the question of doing silverfish bite? Let’s dig into the same.
- To begin with, one can look after the gaps available in the basement walls and foundation using liquid cement. This will be a permanent solution to the problem as liquid cement is hard to penetrate for any pest.
- To prevent silverfish from entering the house, one must also keep the moisture out. Therefore, using a chemical barrier between the basement walls and the ground outside will help protect your basement from unnecessary moisture from the air. On the other hand, this will also keep the silverfish out and your house safe.
- Keeping your neat can be a solution to your problems. Silverfish tend to feed on papers, and therefore, keeping them out of their reach can change the game completely. Therefore, avoid keeping paper piles on the floor or in the basement.
- If things are getting out of hand, it is high time to call a professional. Professional people don’t work on any of the solutions mentioned above; instead, they bring in chemicals and tools to immediately remove the silverfish. However, if the issue is not significant, they can spray the chemical and let it sink in for 24 hours. These 24 hours can stand crucial as most of the silverfishes tries to escape during this time.
However, if nothing is working out for you, then calling up a professional pest management company would bring in the right solutions that we haven’t thought of before. With a proper recommendation, one can keep the silverfish out of their place.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Do Silverfish bite pets?
Most humans have a pet nowadays. It gets hectic for them to take care of their pet if the same is infested with pests. One of the worst nightmares for any pet parent is a flea infestation on the dog’s fur. However, silverfish do not bite pets, and therefore, your pet is free of all the allergens spread at the same time. But at the same time, owners must be careful with other pests finding a way in.
Q2. Can Silverfish crawl in ears?
While the question is mainly asked for earwigs, it is essential to address the same for silverfish. Silverfish are slow crawling pests, and they don’t try to find their way into human ears. Neither do they lay eggs in the same? Therefore, Silverfish exclusively feed on paper and don’t look out for sucking the blood out of the human body.
Q3. What are silverfish attracted to?
We can always answer the question do silverfish bite later if we know what attracts them. While most of us are aware of their love for paper products, the starchy sugar present in the same feeds them the best. In other words, silverfish finds cellulose to feed on. However, silverfish are capable of going without eating for long periods. Adding up to it, silverfish reproduce fast and live for several years. Hence, the only way out is to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Q4. Can silverfish get on your bed?
Silverfish can crawl into your bed and sleep next to you as scary as the thought is. However, most of the time, they are found around moist places like bathrooms and closets. Even though it is not harmful, one wouldn’t want this creepy pest around their bed anytime soon. Apart from it, they also damage bedding for the user.
Do Silverfish Bite? Conclusion
At last, the question do silverfish bite has finally been answered. Silverfish are these tiny pests that are easy to detect due to their fish-like movement. Apart from it, locating silverfish can be easy as they are mostly available in moist areas, and therefore, checking out washrooms and the basement always helps.
On the other hand, one must not be worried about getting infected via silverfish. They barely bite humans or infest them while feeding on food, wallpaper, and books. With their weak jaws, all they can do is rupture the book’s page. However, the thing that must be well-taken care of is isolation. Silverfish are slow crawling pests, and if they find a way into your house, other pests can find the same.
Check out this article on Earwigs and how to deal with them. However, these are not the only pest out there. One must also deal with carpet beetles smartly.
