Silverfish is an insect found throughout homes. Native to the tropics, this insect from hot and humid countries has been able to adapt to Quebec’s climate. It has been treading the earth for more than 400 million years.
What does silverfish look like? How does it reproduce to invade the bathrooms? What are his manners? What can be done to prevent him from occupying the house at home? In case it infests the water features and the kitchen of your home, how do you find a serious and pro exterminator in Montreal to finish it off once and for all?
Find out below appropriate answers to these questions!
Nom français | Lépisme argenté, Poisson d’argent |
Nom anglais | Common Silverfish |
Nom latin | Lepisma saccharina |
Classe | Insectes |
Ordre | Zygentoma |
Famille | Lépismatidés |

Physically identify the “silverfish”?
Silverfish is an apterygote (without a wing) of the order of the zygentomes and the Lepismatidaefamily. Its popular name is “silverfish” because it is covered with shiny scales with gliding reflections.
The thermobia is very similar to it except for these famous reflections. Grey or dark it also has stripes formed of scales c is an insect without wings.
Silverfish attacks anything that contains starch, keratin, spices and plants.
It has a flattened shape and measures 1.25 cm in its adult state. Its head has two long antennae. Its abdomen ends with three hairy filaments.
Silverfish is covered with metallic grey scales with silver highlights. Its legs are very short.
It is a nocturnal insect of nature, which is fond of hot and humid environments. It flees the light and moves very quickly, mimicking the movement of a swimming fish, hence its name
The reproduction of silver fish
A female lays 10 to 100 eggs per clutch. It introduces them one by one into cracks and cracks.
Young silverfish have a white color. They will take their silver color, about 4 weeks after birth. It will take them 3 years to reach their maximum size and be ready to breed in turn.
Silverfish can exceed 7 years of life. But most of the time, they die after two and a half years.
This insect undergoes several moults even in adulthood. But its physical appearance does not change.
How the invasion of silver lepism be detrimental
Silverfish are fond of moist, warm, and dark areas of buildings, with relatively high humidity levels promoting their development. They take refuge in cracks and narrow passages such as the baseboards of houses.
They also live in
- basements,
- wet attics,
- Bathrooms,
- kitchens and
- any construction where there is water leakage.

They are also found in some synthetic starch products, glues used in wood processing plants, in some aggregated wood panels, etc.
In fact, they are found everywhere, as long as there is a source of heat and humidity nearby.
Silverfish is introduced to you when traveling when buying new equipment, clothing, furniture, or food.
It eats everything: plant matter, cereals, flours, sugar, fungal moulds, organic matter, cotton balls, paper, starches, dead insects, microscopic fungi.
Silverfish can survive by consuming only dust.
It does not present any direct danger to the human being. It does not sting. It does not irritate. It does not transmit any disease.
In general, it does not cause any damage to homes. On the contrary, it renders certain services: it is a very talented dust vacuum cleaner. it cleans small corners inaccessible to the broom or sweeper.
Appeler René Gélinas Votre exterminateur local, Expérience et intégrité dans la gestion parasitaire
Tel 514 830 2819
Hantavirus, definition and mode of transmission
Hantavirus is a severe lung syndrome caused by a virus. It is secreted in the urine, feces and saliva of infected animals. Most often these are rodents. When humans come into direct or indirect contact with these secretions, the virus is transmitted to them. Ditto when they are bitten by infected rodents.
However, the virus is not transmitted from human to human, only from animal to human. This type of disease is called zoonoses because they can only be transmitted to humans through an animal. It has been found that domestic animals (apart from the domestic rat) and livestock cannot contract hantavirus so there is every reason to believe that only rodents can carry it.
Symptoms of hantavirus
Being a lung disease, one of the characteristic symptoms of hantavirus is difficulty breathing. At the beginning of the disease, the infected person begins to feel fever, chills, headache and muscle pain.
It is about two weeks after the appearance of the first symptoms that they are usually accompanied by a feeling of shortness of breath. Nevertheless, this last manifestation of the disease can be observed after two days as after six weeks; it depends on the organism of the individual.
Hantavirus can also lead to kidney disease or infection. And although they are rare and very few people are prone to them, there is currently no treatment to combat these ailments. It is therefore better to be careful not to contract them.
15 exterminator tips to prevent the multiplication of lepipe
Cleanliness is the essential element of any program to combat silverfish.
- Vacuum regularly. This will remove eggs and food debris
- Keep countertops, cabinets, drawers and pantry clean. Do the same with spaces around and behind appliances and appliances,
- Clean the space under the sinks as well as other damp and dark places,
- Cover or insulate the pipes on which condensation forms,
- Repair leaky faucets and pipes, ventilate bathrooms and dehumidify areas that are too wet,
- Redone the windows’ joints,
- Avoid water infiltration,
- Clean leftover tables and crumbs, even in the most hidden and less accessible places such as drawers, wardrobe backgrounds, etc.
- Clean areas where there is heat to prevent these insects from laying their eggs,
- Repair micro-leaks of faucets,
- Avoid carrying boxes that have been in a damp basement to your home,
- Keep a regular eye on your home’s humidity. A humidity level above 75% is an ideal condition for the development of this insect.
- Don’t leave dead leaves on the edge of your home.
- Close the small openings.
- You can also design a handcrafted lepism trap: A glass jar around which is taped painter’s tape. Bread crumbs, food in the jar, and here’s the trap ready!
But if silver lepers have already infested your bathroom, you’ll need a professional exterminator.
What does the specialist exterminator bring?
Silverfish is a difficult insect to capture, especially in partitions. The moisture that grows there is a source of mold, food that silverfish love.
The lepers will climb through the outside of the pot during the night, but will not be able to reassemble it. Because they will slide on the smooth glass wall. They are thus neutralized.
But this will not always be enough to eradicate this invasion. There you will need an exterminator; and it has professional ways to get rid of these insects:
- Extermination by application in empty and dry spaces of powder containing boric acid. This powder has a very long-lasting effect.
- The earth’s destruction of diatoms: this powder is composed of microscopic crushed marine fossils. The crawling insects, which come into contact with it, die of dehydration.
- Elimination by biodegradable pesticides: it reduces the massive attacks of silverfish. The results are observed after 10 to 14 days of treatment.
- Extermination using chemicals such as Permethrin, Catalyst, Chlormethrin Propoxur, boric acid, etc.
however, it is preferable to contact a professional.
Working with a local exterminator:
- It destroys silverfish in compliance with Environment Canadaregulations, as attested by its permit from the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development with the inscription C5: Extermination.
- He works like this: his certified technicians in extermination and parasitic management quickly come to the site of the infestation.
Their goal: to confirm that they are silverfish, to measure the intensity of their aggression, and to determine the source to neutralize it.
He then offers you a treatment adapted to the power of the invasion. Finally, it trains you to take precautions to protect yourself from a future flood of silverfish in your home.
- It uses unidentified vehicles and remains discreet in all interventions.
- It offers you a written guarantee on the effectiveness of its treatment against theepidemic of silverfish.
- It knows how to choose pesticides suitable for your infestation and makes it a safe use. Rest assured: if he has a permit from the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, it means that he is paying attention to all of this.
And have you, the silverfish ever rushed to your house? How did you manage to destroy them? Tell us in the comments below.