While silverfish are harmless to humans, nobody wants to wake up to this nuisance pest crawling on the wall right above their head, or even worse while taking a shower in the bathroom- that's the worst skin-crawling experience!
These wingless pests are plain ugly, disgusting, and unwanted. Perhaps you're worried that these unsightly critters will invade your beautiful LED-lit room? That's understandable.
This article will answer the commonly asked question 'Do silverfish attract to LED lights and why?'
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What Are Silver Fish?
Silverfish are one of the most stubborn and nuisance pests in the world that can invade a home. They are easily identified by their distinctive and not-so-pleasing appearance.
Silverfish generally have a shimmery silver appearance with a long and flattened body that often measures half or one inch long. The body is curved to resemble the shape of a fish (hence the name silverfish).
Another creepy and fishy characteristic of these disgusting pests is their movement. Like a fish pushing through the water, silverfish stretches their bodies from side to side while they move.
Silverfish are extremely shy, and you will rarely ever spot them in well-lit areas. These invasive pests can live for up to 8 years, and a female can lay at least 60 eggs at once. This means that an invasion will grow pretty quickly.
Because they are silent and will avoid being noticed by you at all costs, the severity of a silverfish infestation goes unnoticed for quite a long time.
Where Did The Silverfish In My Home Come From?
Outdoors, silverfish prefer to live in the most isolated and moist areas like underneath leaf coverage and tree barks. There are many ways that they can invade your home, for instance, via the cracks/crevices in the foundation. Silverfish can also hitchhike in books and other household items like papers into your home.
To most homeowners, silverfish are a common pest. But they are pretty hard to spot because they like to live in secluded, dark, and moist corners.
Though silverfish like to congregate in the corners of your bathroom (for a good reason), they especially prefer attics, wall voids, or even basements to avoid a lot of human contacts.
They are pretty hard to catch or kill as besides being super-fast, silverfish are also good climbers. Additionally, they can survive for many weeks without food or water, and as long as your home has high humidity, these primitive pests are happy to settle for a long time in hiding.
Why Do Silverfish Invade Homes?
Silverfish will travel long distances in search of warmth, moisture, and adequate humidity. They are also attracted to organic waste, especially sugary leftovers. Once they deem your home a proper habitat, they will comfortably stick around.
Silverfish are mainly interested in your books and other paper materials than anything in your body. But they have also been found to feed on the epidermis of human skin- that's why you see them in bathroom corners.
The epidermis (outer skin layer) is made up of dead cells that often fall off when we use a towel after bathing. Epidermis plus humidity and mold make bathrooms irresistible for silverfish.
They are intensely attracted to paper cellulose. When they get to your books, toilet paper, or other documents, they bite hard and cause extensive damages. Silverfish also like organic glue, so they consider wallpaper hangings a full course meal.
Do Silverfish Attract To LED Lights?
Silverfish are nocturnal pests, which means that they are mainly active during the night and passive during the day. Therefore, silverfish are not attracted to LED light; they literary hate any light. Instead, they are highly attracted to the dark, damp, and secluded environments like attics and basements.
Even if you spot a silverfish in a place with LED lights, there is no scientific evidence to suggest or conclude that silverfish are attracted to LED lighting.
In fact, if you find a silverfish in a lit part of your home, that is likely a sign that the infestation has now grown out of control. Silverfish are too shy and are not bold enough to show up during the day or night when the lights are on.
Other insects like moths are well known for being attracted to light sources, but this is not the case with silverfish. Silverfish will mostly come to your home in search of foods, high moisture, and dark, warm places.
Can Silverfish Bite Me?
Even with their creepy appearance, silverfish are utterly passive to humans. They do not carry diseases and have not been known to bite people. They are not interested in anything about you like blood or sweat and would rather avoid you as much as possible.
Your mere presence or simply flipping on lights is enough to send silverfish running very fast into cracks and crevices for safety. The chances of hurting yourself when attempting to catch a silverfish are higher than the pest hurting you even after you've caught it!
The Best Way To Get Rid Of Silverfish
Naturally, your first response to a silverfish infestation will be to get rid of the pest on your own. That's fine because silverfish are harmless. However, silverfish are quite secretive and do not leave behind reliable signs to track them down. So if the infestation is small, you might never trace them.
In case you're seeing signs of silverfish infestation like unexplained holes in clothes or yellowing of papers, it's likely the infestation has really grown big.
Trying to exterminate a full-blown silverfish infestation is both time-consuming and tiring, considering they are perfect at hiding. You can use the best silverfish pesticides, but you must be cautious as they can pose you and your pets with health risks if misused.
The best way to get rid of silverfish is by seeking help from a licensed pest control company. Pest experts have been in the field for many years, and they know exactly what to do to exterminate silverfish quickly, safely, and completely. They will find the source of the infestation and factors attracting silverfish into your home before creating a pest protection barrier to prevent chances of future reinfestation.
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