Everything You Need To Know About Silverfish

What do silverfish eat?

As mentioned, silverfish like eating books. They also will eat old photos, clothing, carpets, bedding, curtains, tapestries, shampoo, dead insects, papers in your filing cabinet, and the wallpaper paste right off your walls. However, they also enjoy regular foods such as pasta, flour, cereal, and any other starchy type of food. Because of this, they can often be found in kitchens and pantries. Their love of book bindings can make them a plague for libraries as well. If you have only a few silverfish, you may not need to worry too much, but the longer they are allowed to multiply, the more damage their growing numbers will cause. However, it is important to note that even if you manage to starve those silverfish, they can survive many months without eating anything at all—only to come back later and plague you.

Do silverfish bite?

Silverfish jaws, called mandibles, are designed to scrape the food they are eating. These mandibles are not strong enough to actually bite through human skin.

Where do silverfish generally congregate inside homes?

Silverfish can thrive in most climates, but they prefer to stay inside dark, damp areas, such as basements, attics, kitchens, and bathrooms. Sometimes silverfish are found inside sealed food packages. Since they are especially attracted to paper and damp clothing, they are also found in areas where there is a lot of stored paper, laundry rooms, or anywhere else where damp fabrics are present. Outside homes, they can be found inside stored boxes in garages or sheds.