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What Do Silverfish Eat are controlled by drying the space, removing starchy food sources, and treating hidden cracks.

What Do Silverfish Eat? A Complete Guide to Their Diet

Silverfish have an unusually broad diet that makes them especially problematic as household pests. Unlike insects that feed on a single type of material, silverfish consume a wide range of starchy, sugary, and protein-rich substances found in nearly every home. Understanding what they eat helps you protect vulnerable items and reduce the food sources that sustain infestations.

Primary Dietary Preferences

Sign or symptom	Likely cause	Risk level	What to do next
Fresh activity related to What Do Silverfish Eat? A Complete Guide to Their Diet	silverfish are active nearby or recently passed through the area.	High if signs repeat or appear in multiple rooms.	Inspect the surrounding cracks, seams, food sources, and travel paths.
Old or isolated evidence	A past problem, accidental introduction, or inactive nesting site.	Moderate until you confirm whether activity is current.	Clean and mark the area, then recheck in 24 to 48 hours.
Multiple signs together	A developing infestation rather than a one-off sighting.	High because populations can spread before they are obvious.	Start control steps immediately and consider professional inspection.

Silverfish are primarily starch and sugar feeders. Their digestive system is well-adapted to break down polysaccharides — complex carbohydrates found in plant-based materials, paper products, and many household goods.

Starches and Sugars

Starch is the cornerstone of the silverfish diet. They actively seek out:

Flour, cornstarch, and other cooking starches
Cereals and oats
Pasta (dry and cooked)
Rice
Sugar and powdered sugar
Bread and baked goods
Wallpaper paste and bookbinding glue

These food preferences explain why silverfish frequently appear in kitchens and pantries.

Paper Products

Paper is essentially processed plant fiber and starch, making it an ideal silverfish food source. Silverfish consume:

Newspaper and magazine pages
Book pages and bindings
Cardboard
Tissue paper and paper towels
Photographs
Important documents and certificates

The damage to books and paper items can be devastating, especially for collectors, libraries, and archives. Silverfish create irregular holes and surface scraping patterns as they feed.

Fabrics and Textiles

Silverfish feed on both natural and some synthetic fabrics, particularly when the material contains starch-based sizing or has been stained with food:

Cotton
Linen
Silk
Rayon
Starched fabrics

This is why clothing damage from silverfish is common, especially in items stored in dark, humid closets or basements. They tend to create small, irregular holes or surface scraping on affected garments.

Adhesives and Glues

Many adhesives contain starches or proteins that silverfish find appetizing:

Wallpaper paste
Book binding glue
Envelope adhesive
Stamp glue
Label adhesive
Carpet backing adhesive

Damage to wallpaper is a particularly common sign of silverfish activity, as the paste provides both food and the dark space behind the paper provides shelter.

Secondary Food Sources

Beyond their primary starchy diet, silverfish are opportunistic feeders that consume a variety of other materials.

Protein Sources

Silverfish supplement their diet with protein from:

Dead insects (including other silverfish)
Their own shed exoskeletons
Dried meat and fish (if accessible)
Pet food
Leather

Cellulose

Like some other primitive insects, silverfish can digest cellulose — the structural fiber in plant material and wood products. They eat:

Cotton and linen fibers
Untreated wood surfaces (though they do not bore into wood like termites)
Plant-based materials

Other Materials

Silverfish have also been known to feed on:

Dust and household debris
Hair and dandruff
Certain paints and plaster
Synthetic fabrics (usually only if food-stained)
Fungal growths and mold

How Silverfish Feeding Causes Damage

Silverfish feeding creates distinctive damage patterns:

Surface scraping: Silverfish often scrape the surface layer of paper or fabric rather than eating through it entirely, creating thin, translucent patches.
Irregular holes: Unlike moth damage (which creates round holes), silverfish damage tends to produce irregular, ragged-edged holes.
Notched edges: Paper and fabric edges may show small, irregular notches where silverfish have fed.
Yellow staining: Silverfish leave behind yellowish stains from their scales and excrement, particularly on light-colored paper and fabric.

Protecting Your Belongings

To protect items from silverfish feeding:

Store valuable books and documents in sealed plastic containers or archival-quality storage.
Keep pantry food in airtight glass or hard plastic containers.
Use garment bags for stored clothing.
Reduce humidity to make the environment less hospitable.
Vacuum regularly to remove food debris and silverfish attractants.

Can Silverfish Survive Without Food?

Silverfish are remarkably resilient. They can survive for weeks or even months without food, provided they have access to moisture. This hardiness is one reason silverfish infestations can be difficult to eliminate through food removal alone — it must be combined with humidity control and active treatment methods.

For a full treatment plan, see our guide on how to get rid of silverfish. For an overview of silverfish biology and behavior, visit the complete guide to silverfish.

Expert Insight

"The versatility of the silverfish diet is what makes them such a successful pest," says Sarah Mitchell, BCE. "In my 15 years of IPM work, I have documented silverfish feeding on paper, book bindings, wallpaper paste, cotton clothing, dried pasta, and even synthetic fabrics coated with food residue. Their ability to digest cellulose gives them access to food sources that most other household pests cannot exploit."

How to Identify

Silverfish feeding produces distinctive evidence that separates it from moth or beetle damage, and from moisture staining alone. Surface scraping is the most diagnostic sign - silverfish rasp away the top layer of paper or fabric rather than cutting through cleanly, leaving thin, translucent patches or shallow grooves on affected surfaces. Irregular, ragged-edged holes in paper documents or fabric differ from the round holes moths create. Yellow staining on light-colored paper or fabric comes from silverfish scales and droppings deposited during and after feeding bouts. Small, pepper-like droppings concentrated along baseboards or near stored paper indicate regular foraging routes. Shed exoskeletons near feeding sites confirm that silverfish are completing molts in the area rather than just passing through. Taken together, these signs - scraping, staining, droppings, and shed skins - point specifically to silverfish rather than other common household pests.

Solutions and Actions

Transfer all pantry goods currently in cardboard, paper, or thin plastic packaging to rigid airtight containers, which removes both food and harborage at the same time. Move books and documents at risk to sealed plastic bins; use archival-quality boxes for irreplaceable materials. Store clothing, especially cotton, linen, and silk, in sealed garment bags in areas where feeding has been observed. Apply diatomaceous earth in a thin layer along baseboards, behind appliances, and inside cracks near confirmed feeding sites; reapply after vacuuming. Reduce humidity below 50 percent using a dehumidifier, since silverfish cannot feed and develop effectively at low humidity even when food is present. Place sticky traps near known feeding sites to track activity and verify whether control efforts are reducing catches over time. Reassess after two to three weeks, since population decline is gradual rather than immediate.

Prevention

Permanent storage discipline is the most reliable long-term prevention against silverfish feeding damage. Keep all dry goods - including flour, cereals, pasta, and sugar - in rigid airtight containers rather than original packaging. Store books, documents, and photographs in sealed plastic bins rather than on open shelving in humid rooms. Keep clothing in sealed garment bags in closets, particularly items made of cotton, linen, or silk stored for more than one season. Vacuum storage areas, bookshelves, and pantry shelves twice yearly to remove food debris, shed skins, and droppings. Maintain indoor humidity below 50 percent year-round; this is the single most effective preventive measure because silverfish cannot sustain populations in dry environments even when food is available. Recycle paper and cardboard promptly rather than allowing it to accumulate in damp storage areas where it doubles as both food source and harborage.

Main Causes

Silverfish thrive where humidity stays above sixty percent and starchy or cellulose-based food is available. Damp basements, bathrooms, attics with poor ventilation, crawl spaces, and storage areas behind exterior walls are the most common nesting zones. They feed on book bindings, wallpaper paste, cardboard, dried pasta and cereals, dead skin and hair in dust, fabric starch, and any organic material with carbohydrates. They enter through utility penetrations, foundation cracks, and gaps around windows, and stowaway in cardboard moving boxes, used books, and stored documents brought into the home. Slow leaks, condensation on cold-water pipes, and inadequate exhaust ventilation in bathrooms create the persistent humidity that lets a small population establish into a sustained presence.

Risk and Severity

Silverfish pose no direct medical threat — they do not bite, sting, transmit disease, or contaminate food in ways that produce illness. The risk is material damage. They feed on book bindings, paper documents, photographs, wallpaper paste, fabric starch, cardboard, and stored dry goods, causing irreversible damage to archived materials, family photographs, important documents, library books, and stored clothing. Heavy populations also indicate persistent moisture problems that drive secondary issues — mold growth, structural wood decay, and other moisture-loving pests like booklice and mold mites. Allergic sensitivity to silverfish scales has been documented in a small number of cases. Risk scales with the value of stored paper goods and the severity of underlying humidity issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do silverfish eat plastic?

Silverfish do not eat plastic, but they can chew through thin plastic wrap and bags to reach starchy foods inside. Rigid plastic containers with tight-fitting lids are effective barriers against silverfish. Use hard-sided airtight containers for food storage in areas where silverfish are active.

Will silverfish eat my photographs?

Yes. Silverfish can damage photographs by feeding on the gelatin-based emulsion layer and the paper backing. Older photographs using traditional developing processes are especially vulnerable. Store photographs in sealed, archival-quality containers in climate-controlled areas.

Can silverfish survive without food?

Silverfish are remarkably resilient and can survive without food for several months under favorable humidity conditions. This makes starvation an impractical control strategy on its own. Reducing food access helps, but humidity control is essential for eliminating silverfish populations.

What should I check after noticing eat silverfish activity?

After noticing eat silverfish activity, inspect the nearest dark cracks, baseboards, pipe openings, stored paper, and humid corners. Use a flashlight at night and place sticky traps along the route where the insect disappeared. That pattern tells you whether the issue is a single wanderer or a supported harborage with moisture and food sources that need correction.