Silverfish: The Common House Pest of Texas

One of the strangest and least understood of the Texas house bugs is the silverfish. What silverfish look like, how they behave, how to get rid of them, and more will all be answered below, as you learn to take your home back from the most widespread pest most have never heard of.

What Are Silverfish? 

Silverfish are silver bugs that wriggle around like fish out of water, which is how they get their name. Big silverfish can reach about an inch or more in length, but the average size for them is about 3/4 of an inch. Though these pests are not aquatic, they do have high requirements for humidity and heat, which is why Texas can serve as the perfect home for these residential pests. 

Are Silverfish Common? 

Silverfish are common and can be found in most households throughout Texas. You may be asking yourself “why are silverfish in my house?” or “what causes silverfish?” Like most insects, silverfish are looking for a place to breed, feed and hide from predators. These insects are often drawn to dark and moist environments—most often basements near any kind of water heater.

Why Are Silverfish Common in Texas? 

Silverfish have high needs for humidity and heat, which are often found in Texas homes. They have a humidity requirement of between 75 percent to 95 percent. In dryer seasons, this will often drive silverfish into places where there is more relative humidity, like homes where you may have a humidifier running.

Silverfish also have a temperature requirement of between 71 degrees Fahrenheit and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Texas temperatures can be below this during the colder seasons, and far exceed this during the hotter seasons, driving silverfish to find somewhere other than the outside world to both reproduce and survive on their own.

What Do Silverfish Look Like? 

Silverfish have a unique appearance and are easy to visually identify. They include the following characteristics:

• Silver, brown or black bodies typically around three-quarters of an inch in length.
• Soft, long, and flattened bodies.
• Elongated elliptical bodies.
• Three tail appendages and two antennae.

What Do Silverfish Eggs Look Like? 

Silverfish eggs have a circle or oval shape and are typically about 1/32 inches in length, making them hard to spot with the naked eye. When first spawned, they are soft and white, and over the next few hours, harden and change into a yellow color. They have a developmental period of about three weeks before they hatch. The eggs are difficult to spot, often being located in warm, moist, and dark environments away from people.

How to Get Rid of Silverfish

Silverfish are a notoriously difficult pest to deal with due to their shyness and avoidance of people—there are several ways to get rid of them, however. They include the following:

• Placing homemade traps like putting starch in a glass container and covering the outside with tape.
• Placing purchased traps, like sticky traps. 
• Using cedar oil in a spray bottle or diffuser. 
• Contacting a licensed exterminator, such as us here at Myles Pest Services.

Tips For Preventing Silverfish Infestations

The best way to prevent silverfish from encroaching on your home is to keep humidity down. There are several ways to do this, and some are below:

• Running air conditioner to dry up the air.
• Constantly ventilating moist rooms. 
• Dusting your home often.

Other tips include keeping food sealed up and constantly cleaning up food particles so they do not attract any pests. Contact our team of experienced exterminators for more tips.