Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina)

Silverfish are invertebrates most pest professionals will have come across in the course of their work, as they are quite common.

Biology and lifecycle

• Egg: Over a couple of months about 100 eggs are laid by the female in cracks and crevices near to foodstuffs but can sometimes be dropped randomly.

• Nymphs: Emerge which do resemble the adult, albeit slightly fatter and lacking the ‘silvery’ scales.

• Adulthood: Reached at about the tenth moult and this can take up to a year, depending on the environmental conditions.

They are common in the UK, foraging at night in bathrooms, kitchens, and pantries where they may become trapped in sinks, baths, glass, and chinaware as they cannot climb smooth surfaces very well.