Sugar silverfish differs from other insects in that it does not have, and most importantly, there have never been wings. That is why it belongs to the group of primary wingless. This insect lives in moist and warm rooms. Sugar shellfish is protected from drying out by the presence of dense scales and can also live in dry corners where there is mold. She is especially afraid of dryness during molting, when her body loses its natural defenses.
Sugar silverfish can grow up to 8-12 mm, it moves quite quickly and has a silver color. The indicated insect leads a nocturnal lifestyle and always tries to hide when light appears. Silverfish feed on any plant debris. They can eat paper, paste, which glued wallpaper, mold and unicellular algae. They do not harm a person, but sometimes they can damage food, books, paintings.
Sugar silverfish lays eggs in moist places, where after a while new insects that completely look like adults are hatched. In the process of several links they grow.
If you have rare paintings and books that you hold dear to, then it’s sugar silverfish that can harm them. The fight against these insects is to keep the room clean and dry, as well as to hide or remove their natural food. Since silverfish are nocturnal insects, it is rather difficult to determine their place of residence.
Favorite places where sugar shellfish prefers to live and breed are basements, a bathroom, a place under the sink or under the refrigerator, an attic, in general, any dark and damp place in your room. It is necessary to periodically check the indicated places and carry out their cleaning and drying. Such measures violate the habitual habitat of silverfish, and they themselves go to more suitable places.
If nevertheless these insects are wound up at home, then to get rid of them you will need a fan heater, a product containing chlorine, copper sulfate, insecticidal aerosols.
It is necessary to organize additional ventilation in places where silverfish can be located, and you can also dry them additionally using a heat fan. Adult insects will leave by themselves, and their larvae will die in a dry climate.
Sugar silverfish can exist only in warm places where the air temperature is at least 21 degrees. Therefore, for their destruction it is possible to carry out short-term cooling of the room, if weather conditions permit it. To do this, it is necessary to ventilate the apartment well for several hours, thus both larvae and adult insects will be destroyed.
It is also necessary to carry out high-quality cleaning of the premises, to remove all the mold present in it. To do this, it will be enough to rinse the indicated places with any chlorine-containing solution, and then cover them with a solution of copper sulfate, then dry using a fan.
Insecticidal aerosols can be used to combat these insects. With their help, walls and floors are treated, especially places with high humidity or those places where the appearance of insects is possible must be carefully treated. After processing the premises with these means, it is necessary to air it in two to three hours.
Particular attention should be paid to books, they should always be in a dry place and their moisture should not be allowed. It is desirable that in places where a lot of books are stored, there is additional ventilation, and it is also necessary to periodically dry them. Do not place bookshelves low above the floor and close to the wall. Sugar shellfish can cause irreparable harm to your library in a short time.