8. House Centipede/Silverfish
Although house centipedes and silverfish who rank 8th in our list of most annoying bugs found in your house are two completely different types of insects, they tend to be very commonly confused with one another. We thought it best to clear up this general misconception by bundling them together and pointing out their differences because each pest comes with its own set of problems and ways of ridding them.
Luckily, they are very easy to tell apart! While they both have long antennae, silverfish are a smaller teardrop shape with fewer legs (three on each side) and three long bristle-like appendages on their abdomen known as cerci. If you couldn’t guess by their name, they are typically a silverish color.
Like the house centipede, silverfish are rarely seen because they are nocturnal. Although very robust and can survive almost anywhere, silverfish that really is one of the most annoying bugs found in your house, prefer moist or humid areas, so you may be able to find them in sinks and tubs, cabinets below sinks, crawl spaces, attics, and basements. It won’t take you long to realize that you have an infestation of silverfish because they’ll be eating your food, different types of fabric, your shampoo, and binding in your books! Oh! And they’ll be peppering your home with their feces along the way! Although they are not harmful to humans, they are considered to be more of a problem than house centipedes due to the damage they cause to your home by their destructive eating habits. Unfortunately, if you find yourself with an infestation, the only thing you can really do is call a professional to address the problem. No home remedies or even store-bought traps or insecticides will prove effective.
The house centipede, on the other hand, are easier to control. These guys are much larger than the silverfish with an elongated, flat, brown body and legs for days! They tend to hang out in the same types of places you would find silverfish in your house, but are carnivorous, so they won’t be too interested in your food or belongings. While they feed on other insects like silverfish, spiders, cockroaches and other insects and arthropods, they might actually aid in keeping the rest of the bug population in your home to a minimal! But be careful! House centipedes are known to have a nasty bite!
Aside from calling an exterminator, you could take some precautions to keep the humidity levels to a minimum in your home. Put a dehumidifier in your basement, keep organic material (leaves, compost, etc.) away from the sides and roof of your house, and of course, seal as many access points as you can so they don’t try to enter. Sticky traps can help with not only keeping the number of house centipedes down in your house but could also help you figure out where they are coming in from! Ridding your house of these creepy crawlers could be as simple as sprinkling some boric acid in your basement or anywhere else you might notice them in higher populations. And now, let’s see what else we have in our list of most annoying bugs found in your house.
