Are Silverfish Common In Knoxville?
Silverfish are small insects, 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch in length, that are a common problem in Tennessee households. They take their name from their fish-like, metallic appearance and movements.
Silverfish can't fly or jump but run surprisingly fast, which, combined with their nocturnal nature, makes seeing them exceedingly uncommon. However, the damage that these hard-to-see pests cause is often pretty obvious.
Silverfish feed on any starchy or dry food, paper products, or fabrics, causing holes in your favorite upholstery or even rarely-read books. While they do not bite, they can, and given a chance, will contaminate your food with silverfish feces and destroy anything made out of paper or fabric in your home.
Let's take a look at what attracts silverfish to your home, how to prevent silverfish infestation, and, if that fails, how to find quality pest control in Knoxville to clear your house of them.
Why Are Silverfish In My Home?
Insects spend their lives looking for two things; a good place to set up a home and a reliable food source. Like a lot of other common insects, silverfish gravitate to moisture. A damp, dark corner in your basement, space underneath your kitchen sink, or the area right around a sweating plumbing pipe in your crawl space is a perfect home for them. Unfortunately, our homes excel at fulfilling their needs, and once they move in and establish a colony, the removal of silverfish is very complicated.
Problems Silverfish Cause In Knoxville
While silverfish in Knoxville do not bite (their jaws are too weak, requiring them to scrape instead) or spread diseases, their presence will contaminate any human or pet food left in the open.
- Silverfish enjoy feeding on paper and fabric and have a particular fondness for glue. Finding your favorite book or a T-shirt with holes left by these pests is not an experience anyone would look forward to.
- They also eat the glue between structural elements in your house or a favorite piece of furniture. This favorite food source can result in an even more costly and dangerous situation.
- Finding silverfish scurrying around in your flour or dried pasta is disgusting, and the food is guaranteed to be contaminated.
- Seeing a bunch of silvery insects storm out from under a bucket or a board as you're lifting it is an experience that's likely to raise goosebumps on the skin of even the bravest of us.
Sharing your home with a colony of silverfish is no one's idea of a good time, and prevention is always the best course of action when aiming to discourage silverfish from your home.
Silverfish Prevention Tips Worth Knowing
Make your house a place where silverfish don't want to hang out, and there will be no need to deal with an infestation. The following tips are proven to be effective against silverfish:
- Silverfish need a moist, dark environment to survive; make sure your house doesn't have any leaking pipes, and use a dehumidifier to lower humidity levels.
- Check books and old magazines for signs of an infestation and store them in sealed containers.
- Make sure to store human and pet food in sealed containers.
If prevention doesn't do the trick and you're spotting silverfish around your house, it's time to give a professional a call!
When Is It Time To Order Professional Pest Control?
A well-trained Urbanex pest control professional will evaluate the scope of the infestation to determine the best method of silverfish removal from your house. It's important to take care of both adult silverfish and silverfish eggs to avoid a reoccurrence of the infestation.
If you're dealing with a silverfish infestation in your house, get in touch with Urbanex today! We'll make sure your Knoxville house is silverfish free and stays that way!
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