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Original poster

Is this a silverfish?

32 replies

DILevil · 20/10/2021 23:30

New memory foam topper, opened the cover to air it. Came back this evening to see this. Google tells me maybe it isn’t as it doesn’t seem to have the whisker/tendril things. Do I need to burn the topper and the house down now?

Is this a silverfish?
OP posts:
Seeingadistance · 20/10/2021 23:35

Looks like one to me.

I like silverfish.

Original poster
DILevil · 20/10/2021 23:36

Bollocks

OP posts:
IndecentCakes · 20/10/2021 23:37

I can't tell. It sort of doesn't look like it.

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Original poster
DILevil · 20/10/2021 23:38

@IndecentCakes you can be my friend if you don’t think it is. Unfortunately only the one photo before it was squished.

OP posts:
LoveFall · 20/10/2021 23:39

All the silverfish I have seen were a much lighter colour and their hind end looks different to the front.

I don't think it is a silverfish but not 100% sure.

RichardMarxisinnocent · 20/10/2021 23:40

They're harmless. They don't bite or sting and they're not poisonous. ZI have some in my bathroom, they wander around the floor and occasionally escape and end up on the sofa or bedroom floor. Apparently they may eat paper so sometimes make books holey but mine haven't done that. They had a go at some wrapping paper under the bed once.

Original poster
DILevil · 20/10/2021 23:40

@LoveFall you can be friend no. 2

OP posts:
BreasticlesNotTesticles · 20/10/2021 23:40

No wrong colour.

RichardMarxisinnocent · 20/10/2021 23:42

@LoveFall

All the silverfish I have seen were a much lighter colour and their hind end looks different to the front.

I don't think it is a silverfish but not 100% sure.

Yep having seen a fair few scuttling around my flat I'm not convinced it's a silverfish. As you say wrong colour and the back end looks wrong.
Myusernameisnotmyusernameno · 20/10/2021 23:44

I don't think it is.

Medievalist · 20/10/2021 23:46

No - not a silverfish

Sashwindowsquestions · 20/10/2021 23:49

Definitely not a silverfish. It looks like a young moth?

Medievalist · 20/10/2021 23:51

It looks like a young moth?

Good call I think.

Hawkmoth · 20/10/2021 23:53

Yes it's moth. However, a young moth is a caterpillar so...

Original poster
DILevil · 20/10/2021 23:56

@Sashwindowsquestions Oo you get to be my best friend if it is a moth!
I lived with a relative that had silver fish and it was properly grim, so flash back to that and DH has already offered to het the house fumigated! But a moth, no problem!

OP posts:
MissCruellaDeVil · 21/10/2021 00:07

Definitely a moth! Silverfish are much lighter.

PainterInPeril · 21/10/2021 00:28

Possibly a carpet moth?

exexpat · 21/10/2021 00:46

Moths are much more of a problem than silverfish, in my opinion. They (or rather their larvae) munch their way through hidden sections of carpet and all your best jumpers before you know it, and they are a nightmare to get rid of.

AutistAwayWithUrConditionalLuv · 21/10/2021 00:49

No it isn't. Doesn't look like one. Looks a bit like a moth to me.

KloppsTeeth · 21/10/2021 00:50

Looks like a juvenile moth to me. We have silverfish downstairs sometimes, not many, but they don’t look like that. I use an insecticide along the skirting which leaves a residue for a few weeks that kills them on contact. It keeps the population down.

Original poster
DILevil · 21/10/2021 11:51

Very happy to wake up to the fact it was likely a moth!

OP posts:
TakeYourFinalPosition · 21/10/2021 12:14

I agree that it’s a carpet moth - it’s not a silverfish.

OldTinHat · 21/10/2021 12:20

I think it's a carpet/clothes moth too. They're horrendous, I've had them since May and they're a nightmare to get rid of. I was squashing about 25 every evening and I'm down to one every other day now. I've got moth traps everywhere which I keep accidentally sticking myself to!

fairgame84 · 21/10/2021 12:27

This is a silverfish

Is this a silverfish?
JesusInTheCabbageVan · 21/10/2021 12:34

Calm down, it's not a silverfish, it's a very rare Ecuadorian death-fly. You'll be fine as long as you don't make eye contact or do anything else to antagonise it, and for God's sake DON'T photograph it as the phone signal will cause it to grow 3 feet in the night. If you're woken by a piercing scream, don't worry as it is just birthing an egg-sac. It's only if you hear growling that you need to evacuate and notify the military.

I love reassuring people on the internet.

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