Silverfish Lepisma saccharinum
Silverfish are the wiggling silver teardrops that appear in tubs and bookshelves. They eat starch — book bindings, wallpaper paste, cereal boxes, and the sizing in stored fabric — and they can live months between meals, which is why they outlast most DIY attempts.
Signs you have them
- Silver, fish-like wigglers in sinks and tubs
- Irregular holes and yellow stains in stored papers or fabric
- Tiny black pepper droppings in bookshelves and closets
What you can do today, free
- Drop humidity: run bath fans and fix slow leaks — they need damp air
- Store off-season clothes in sealed bins, not cardboard
- Cycle stored books and papers occasionally; undisturbed storage is their habitat
Questions, answered straight
Are silverfish harmful?
Not to people or pets — to things. Photo albums, documents, and fabric are what they slowly ruin. Covered under the Pest Plan at $119/quarter.
Cockroaches 
Ants 
Spiders