For catching and checking, EcoPest’s 12 scented glue traps cover silverfish and firebrats, box traps with no lure suit plain monitoring, and angled traps fit damp crawl spaces. Dekko’s 48 boric acid paks suit books, papers and closets. Airtight containers from Vtopmart, CHEFSTORY or PRAKI keep cereal, flour and pet food sealed.
What They Are, and What They Do to Paper
UC IPM, on the damage: “Firebrats and silverfish have very weak mandibles, or jaws, which causes them to scrape, instead of bite, the surface of paper.” The same source adds that page discoloration often occurs because of the fungi associated with their feeding damage, and that on paper and fabrics feeding usually begins in one area and spreads as unconnected, irregularly shaped holes.
What they eat, in UC IPM’s words: “Both insects prefer dry food such as cereals, flour, pasta, and pet food; paper with glue or paste; sizing in paper including wallpaper; book bindings; and starch in clothing.” The same source says household dust and debris, dead insects and certain fungi are also important sources of food, and that they can live for several months without nourishment.
How to tell it was them: UC IPM says that if you see scales around or beneath damaged items it is a good indication these pests are the culprits, and describes the scales as delicate, dustlike and slightly incandescent in the light.
This is the third page in a group of three. The others cover carpet beetles and household moths, which eat animal fibers rather than paper and starch. The three share the food-storage advice below and share nothing else about their products — a lure made for one insect does not attract another.
Two Species, and Every Figure Below Is Labeled
Silverfish and firebrats are not interchangeable, and almost every number differs between them.
UC IPM states most of these figures as labeled pairs inside a single sentence, so they are quoted whole below rather than split apart. Every figure on this page carries the name of the species it counts. If a number here is not attached to a species name, it is a defect.
UC IPM, identifying the two: “The common silverfish, Lepisma saccharina, is shiny, silver or pearl gray, and about 1/2 inch long, although it can grow as long as 3/4 inch.” The same source gives the common firebrat as Thermobia domestica, shiny, a mottled gray or brown, and about 1/2 inch long.
Food Storage
Four sources ask for the same thing. UC IPM: “Keep food in containers with tight lids, especially dry, processed items.” NPIC: “Keep cereals, flour, meal, pasta, and pet foods in airtight containers.” Penn State: “Keep cereals, flour, meal, pastas, pet foods, and pet treats in airtight containers.” Utah State: “Remove or store potential food sources in sealed containers.”
UC IPM adds the part a container does not cover: “Because collections of magazines, papers, and books provide food and harborage, occasionally move these items around in your bookcase.”
The containers below are named because their own listings state that they are airtight, which is the single property the sources on this page ask of stored-food packaging.
Product
Vtopmart Airtight Food Storage Containers, 24 Pieces
- States the lid mechanism in its own text, not only in the product name: side-locking lids with a silicone gasket, which the listing says make the containers airtight
- Four sources ask for the same thing here, and two of them list the foods by name — cereals, flour, meal, pasta and pet food
- Twenty-four containers in four sizes, from 0.7 quart to 2.5 quart, per the listing
- What the listing does NOT claim is that it excludes insects. It claims air and moisture exclusion. The criterion the sources state is a property of the lid, and that is all this card asserts
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Product
CHEFSTORY Airtight Food Storage Containers, 8 Pieces
- States an airtight seal in its own text and names the mechanism: side-locking lids with a black silicone gasket, which the listing says protect the containers from air and water
- The smallest of the three sets, at eight containers in four sizes
- ⚠ The listing describes four side-locking lids for an eight-piece set. Whether that means four locking sides per lid or four lidded containers is not resolved by the listing’s own text, so this card states no lid count
- Utah State puts the same instruction in its shortest form: remove or store potential food sources in sealed containers
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Product
PRAKI Airtight Food Storage Containers, 24 Pieces
- States the mechanism in its own text: a silicone sealing strip and locking lids, which the listing says stop water and air entering
- Twenty-four containers in four sizes, sold with labels and a marker
- Named on one other page of this site for the same physical job against pantry moths. What is new here is the reason, which is the silverfish sources rather than anything about the product
- Containers address the food half only. Every source consulted puts moisture and paper clutter alongside food, and no container touches those
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Warm or Cool? Three Sources, Two Answers
Three publications, two incompatible answers about the same insect. This page does not pick one.
UC IPM, in a document its own page dates to 12/2009: “Silverfish live and develop in damp, warm places, preferring areas such as laundry rooms that are 71° to 90°F.”
UF/IFAS: “Silverfish live and develop in damp, cool places.”
Penn State, in a page it dates to June 2026: “Silverfish desire cooler temperatures and are usually found in basements.”
Two sources say cool and one says warm, and the one on its own is also the oldest by roughly sixteen years. That is not a reason to discard it and this page does not. Two publishers agreeing with each other is not evidence that a third is wrong, and nothing here treats the majority as a finding. All three agree the place is damp, which is the part that changes what you do.
On firebrats the sources do not conflict, and the contrast is the useful part. UC IPM says firebrats want very warm, dry places, giving a relative humidity as low as 30 percent and temperatures above 90°F with an optimum of 98° to 102°F, and it adds that for silverfish at higher temperatures the relative humidity must be above 75 percent. (UC IPM’s sentence about where firebrats do well carries a word this site does not print in its own pages, so its substance is given here in our words and attributed rather than quoted). Penn State puts the same contrast more briefly, saying firebrats are more resistant to dryer environments.
How Long They Live: Three Ranges, Three Publishers
UC IPM, on eggs, both species in one sentence: “Firebrat eggs hatch in about 14 days and silverfish eggs in about 19 to 32 days.”
UC IPM, on lifespan, both species in one sentence: “Firebrats live about 2 years and silverfish about 3 years.”
UC IPM, on how temperature changes development, both species in one sentence: “When the temperature is below 50°F, firebrats can take as long as 300 days and silverfish as long as 500 days to develop into adults.” And above 75°F the same source gives firebrats as few as 40 days and silverfish as little as 60 days.
On silverfish alone, three publishers give three different answers twice over.
Egg hatching. UC IPM: silverfish eggs in about 19 to 32 days. UF/IFAS, of silverfish eggs: “They hatch in two to eight weeks.” Penn State gives 19 to 43 days.
Adult lifespan. UC IPM: silverfish about 3 years. UF/IFAS: “The adult female can live for two to five years depending on the species, and can lay up to 100 eggs.” Penn State: silverfish can live for at least two to three years.
Three ranges that overlap without agreeing, from three extension services. None is adjusted here to fit another and none is averaged.
Moisture, and the Specification Nobody Publishes
Every source puts moisture first. UC IPM says to keep basements, laundry rooms and bathrooms — especially shower stalls — clean and dry, to patch holes and spaces around pipes and conduits, and to repair leaks and drips in plumbing. Utah State puts it in one line: “Reduce moisture by fixing leaky plumbing.”
Three sources recommend a dehumidifier. UC IPM: “Silverfish require a lot of moisture, so using dehumidifiers in closed spaces can help discourage these pests.” NPIC: “Consider using a dehumidifier in closed spaces such as bathrooms, basements, garages, and attics.” Penn State: “Use dehumidifiers in damp basements.”
No dehumidifier is named on this page, and the reason is that nobody published a number.
Three sources tell you to use one. None of them states a target relative humidity, a capacity, or a room size. Closed spaces is a description, not a specification, and a product cannot be measured against it. There is a figure of less than 50 percent in one of these publications, and it is not used here — it appears in that document’s booklice section, given for slowing mold growth rather than for silverfish. Presenting it as a silverfish target would attribute one insect’s instruction to another.
The same question arises on another page and gets the same answer. Our camel crickets page covers a different insect that turns up in the same damp basements, and Rutgers Cooperative Extension tells that page’s reader to dehumidify too — also without a number. Two insects, two source sets, one identical gap, and neither page fills it by guessing.
And something may already be eating them. Penn State Extension names silverfish and firebrats first in the house centipede’s prey list, so a fast many-legged arthropod in the same rooms is often a sign this page’s subject is present in numbers. Our house centipedes page covers that animal, including the bite question its own eight sources disagree about.
A third insect shares the root cause and not the habitat. Our earwigs page covers the one that comes in from the mulch outside rather than from the damp inside — flattened, red-brown, with forceps at the tail. If what you are finding is outdoors by day and indoors by night, that is the page for it.
Sticky Traps, and a Free Alternative
UC IPM: “To detect and monitor infestations, use cockroach sticky traps.” Read that instruction exactly: the source names a trap sold for a different insect. A plain glue board has no lure and catches whatever walks onto it, which is why a trap made for another species still works here — while a pheromone made for another species does not.
The sources also describe a trap that costs nothing. UC IPM says you can use small glass jars covered on the outside with masking tape, and that the insects climb up the tape, fall into the jars, and cannot climb back up the slick sides. NPIC describes the same method: “Cover the outside of a lidless glass jar with masking tape and leave it in a place the bugs will find it. They can climb in, but they cannot get out.” UC IPM says to place traps or jars in corners and along edges where foraging is likely.
The four traps below each name silverfish in their own text and state a glue or adhesive mechanism. They are in no order of preference, and no source consulted compares one product against another.
Trap
EcoPest Silverfish Trap, 12 Pack
- The only trap checked that names firebrats as well as silverfish in its own text, and it names silverfish to type: bristletail, common, four-lined, gray and firebrat silverfish
- States a scented attractant mixed into the glue rather than a separate lure wafer
- UC IPM’s instruction is to use a plain sticky trap for detection and monitoring. This one adds an attractant, which the source neither asks for nor rules out
- Twelve traps. The same seller lists a twenty-pack under a different ASIN whose own listing states none of this, so that one is not named here
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Trap
MaxGuard Silverfish + Insect Traps, 12 Box Traps
- Names silverfish in its own text and describes the mechanism as a non-toxic industrial-grade adhesive with a dark interior
- The only trap checked that claims no lure or attractant at all, which is the closest match to what UC IPM actually asks for
- A folded box trap rather than a flat board, which the listing says can be placed in infested areas
- The listing says the traps stay effective for up to six months
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Trap
Greenway Silverfish and Spider Traps, 6 Traps
- Names silverfish in its own text and states high-strength glue as the mechanism
- Its title and its feature text agree on the count, at six traps, which is not true of every listing in this category
- The listing says it delivers up to two months of protection, a shorter claim than the other traps here
- The same brand lists a larger pack under a different ASIN whose title and feature text disagree with each other about how many traps are in the box, so that one is not named here
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Trap
Riddy Insect & Silverfish Traps, 10 Traps
- The only trap checked whose own text uses the word monitoring, which is the purpose UC IPM gives for a sticky trap
- Names silverfish in its own text and states an odorless high-strength adhesive
- A small, angled trap the listing says fits tight spaces such as wall voids, crawl spaces and bathroom corners — the damp places the sources tell you to look
- The listing says side windows let you see a catch without lifting the trap
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Boric Acid Bait, and the Disagreement About It
One extension service offers this class of product. Another says it does not work well. Both are quoted; neither is adjusted.
UF/IFAS: “The use of fine granular baits such as Niban® - FG or Dekko Silverfish Paks (20% boric acid) may be used. Always follow pesticide label directions.”
UC IPM: “However, baits aren’t very successful in treating silverfish and firebrats, because they tend not to feed on them.”
This page has no basis for preferring one publisher over the other and does not pretend to. That one source names a product does not make it a recommendation by this site, and the card below is not placed there because a source named a brand.
The product below is named because its own listing states the criterion — a granular boric acid bait, at a stated concentration, that names silverfish. It is the only product on this page carrying a pesticide, and the disagreement above applies to it directly.
Trap
Dekko Silverfish Paks, 48 Bait Traps
- States the active ingredient and its concentration in its own text: 20.0% boric acid, in ready-to-use paks
- Names silverfish in its own text and names what it is meant to protect — books, photographs, documents, wallpaper, fabrics and clothing
- ⚠ READ THE DISAGREEMENT DIRECTLY ABOVE THIS CARD BEFORE BUYING. One extension service offers granular baits of this kind as an option; another says baits are not very successful against these insects because they tend not to feed on them. This page does not settle that
- Forty-eight individual paks. The listing says no mixing or spraying is required and that they are placed where activity is seen
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UF/IFAS also describes a dust rather than a bait: “Careful dusting of dry cracks and crevices with diatomaceous earth and appropriate equipment is an option.” No dust is named on this page. The source attaches both care and equipment to the method, and neither is a property a product listing can evidence.
What the Sources Say About Sprays and Foggers
No spray, dust or fogger is named on this page. What follows is what the sources record.
UC IPM, in a document its own page dates to 12/2009 — which matters for a claim about what is on sale: “Hundreds of commercially available insecticides list firebrats and silverfish on their labels. However, most of these products haven’t been adequately tested.”
The same source says insecticides are not required to control light infestations or an occasional insect, that these can be managed by reducing water sources and through physical control, and that insecticides will not be effective unless you also remove the moisture, food and hiding places that let these pests thrive. And on one whole class: “Foggers aren’t recommended to treat silverfish and firebrat infestations.”
UF/IFAS is blunt about the difficulty: “Silverfish control can be challenging.”
Whether They Harm People
Across six publications we found no report of a disease and no report of an allergic reaction. What the sources do say about people is limited to two statements, and both are negative.
UC IPM, on the mouthparts: “Firebrats and silverfish have very weak jaws which causes them to scrape, instead of bite, the surface of paper.” That statement is about paper rather than skin, and it is the only use of the word bite in any of the six sources.
UF/IFAS, on the misleading name given to a related insect: “The term “lice” in the names is somewhat misleading because none of these insects are parasites and few of them have a louselike appearance.”
Those are reported here as those sources state them. This page grades nothing and names no illness, because no source consulted named one.
Questions
Do silverfish bite?
No source consulted says they bite people, and the flagship says the opposite about their mouthparts. UC IPM states that firebrats and silverfish have very weak jaws which causes them to scrape, instead of bite, the surface of paper. That sentence is about paper, not skin, but it is the only use of the word bite in six publications and it is a negative. UF/IFAS separately notes, of the related booklice, that none of these insects are parasites. Across all six sources we found no report of a disease, and no report of an allergic reaction either.
Do silverfish like warm places or cool ones?
The sources disagree and this page does not settle it. UC IPM, in a document its own page dates to December 2009, says silverfish live and develop in damp, warm places, preferring areas such as laundry rooms that are 71 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. UF/IFAS says silverfish live and develop in damp, cool places. Penn State, in a page it dates to June 2026, says silverfish desire cooler temperatures and are usually found in basements. Two sources sit on one side and one on the other, and the one on its own is also the oldest. Two publishers agreeing with each other is not evidence that the third is wrong, and this page does not treat it as such. What all three agree on is damp.
What humidity should I aim for?
No silverfish source we consulted publishes a number. Three of them recommend a dehumidifier — UC IPM says silverfish require a lot of moisture so using dehumidifiers in closed spaces can help discourage these pests, NPIC says to consider using a dehumidifier in closed spaces such as bathrooms, basements, garages and attics, and Penn State says to use dehumidifiers in damp basements. None of the three gives a target relative humidity, a capacity or a room size. There is a figure of less than 50 percent in one of these publications, but it sits in that document’s booklice section and is given for slowing mold growth, so it is not a silverfish target and this page does not present it as one. That is why no dehumidifier is named here: there is no published specification to measure a product against.
Will a moth or carpet beetle trap catch silverfish?
Not on the strength of its lure. UC IPM states that a pheromone attracts the species it was made for and not others, which is why this site keeps the traps on its carpet beetle, moth and silverfish pages strictly apart. A plain sticky board with no lure is a different matter, because it catches whatever walks onto it — UC IPM in fact tells you to use cockroach sticky traps to detect and monitor silverfish, which is a trap sold for another insect entirely. The rule is about the attractant, not the glue.
Are the insecticides worth it?
The flagship is notably unenthusiastic, and its own page is dated December 2009, which matters for a list of products. UC IPM states that hundreds of commercially available insecticides list firebrats and silverfish on their labels, and immediately adds that most of these products have not been adequately tested. It says insecticides are not required for light infestations or an occasional insect, that these can be managed by reducing water sources and through physical control, and that insecticides will not be effective unless you also remove the moisture, food and hiding places. It also states that foggers are not recommended for these infestations. No spray, dust or fogger is named on this page.
Sources
Every factual statement on this page traces to one of the six publications below, all fetched on 28 August 2026. Where a source suppresses its own publication date in markup that does not render, that is stated rather than the hidden date being cited, and where the age of a source bears on a claim the date is written into the sentence carrying it.
Sources
- 01UC Statewide IPM ProgramRenders one date only, an update stamp of 12/2009 — the oldest source used on this page. A January 2022 publication date exists in the page markup but is inside an HTML comment and does not render, so it is not cited. Fetched 28 August 2026Pest Notes: Silverfish and Firebrats — the source of the species identification, the paired life-cycle figures, the scraping-rather-than-biting statement, the sticky trap and jar methods, the tight-lid container instruction, the dehumidifier advice, the bait assessment and the insecticide caveatshttps://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/silverfish-and-firebrats/
- 02Penn State ExtensionRenders Updated: June 24, 2026Bristletails (Silverfish and Firebrats) — the source of the cooler-temperature statement, the airtight container instruction and the damp basement dehumidifier advice. The most recently updated source on this pagehttps://extension.psu.edu/bristletails-silverfish-and-firebrats
- 03UF/IFAS ExtensionRenders a copyright line of 2024. Revision dates exist in the page metadata but do not render as text, so they are not cited. Fetched 28 August 2026Booklice and Silverfish, ENY-225/IG094 — the source of the damp and cool statement, the silverfish egg and lifespan figures, the diatomaceous earth option and the granular bait statement. ITS BOOKLICE SECTION IS NOT USED HERE: that section carries a container instruction and a humidity figure which belong to booklice and mold, not to silverfishhttps://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig094
- 04National Pesticide Information Center, Oregon State UniversityRenders Last updated May 09, 2025Silverfish and Firebrats — the source of the airtight container instruction, the dehumidifier advice and the glass jar methodhttps://npic.orst.edu/pest/silverfish.html
- 05Utah State University ExtensionNo date renders on the page. Fetched 28 August 2026Silverfish & Firebrats — the source of the sealed container instruction and the moisture and crevice guidancehttps://extension.usu.edu/planthealth/ipm/notes_nuisance/silverfish-firebrats
- 06University of Maine Cooperative ExtensionNo date renders on the page. Fetched 28 August 2026Silverfish and Firebrats — consulted for identification and habitat. It states no control criterion used herehttps://extension.umaine.edu/home-and-garden-ipm/fact-sheets/common-name-listing/silverfish-and-firebrats/