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 Trim trees where shade is causing moist
FIREBRATS
conditions on roofs and roof eves.
Thermobia domestica
Firebrats are not silvery but are mottled dark-gray
Pesticide Application
and dull-yellow. Their cosmopolitan distribution, size,
Use crack and crevice applications of
shape and appendages are like silverfish, but firebrats
registered pesticides in a r e a s o f
prefer decidedly higher temperatures and surroundings
infestation to kill newly hatched
warmed to 90 F or more. Examples of firebrat habitat
bristletails.
are bakeries where heat and starches are prevalent,
Use dust as spot treatments where it
furnace rooms, steam pipe tunnels, hot apartment
will not drift. Dusts can also be used in
bathrooms and partition walls of water heater rooms.
crack and crevice applications.
Use naphthalene flakes in sealed textile
storage for protection of materials.
CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT
Use fogs to eliminate heavy populations
Inspection
and to keep the active, exposed pests
Place silverfish and firebrats in alcohol
from migrating into new areas.
to preserve them. They are soft and
Treat attics where fourlined silverfish
very fragile. When they are captured
are found.
for identification, scales are usually
rubbed off and appendages broken off.
Follow-up
Check all starch-based materials in the
infestation area including glued boxes,
Educate the client regarding bristletails'
wallpaper, books and book bindings, art
need for starch-based foods, humid
prints, file boxes, kitchen and bathroom
conditions, and the firebrats attraction
cupboards, glued insulation bats, flour
for high temperatures.
paste, and stored textiles especially
those that are starched or sized.
SUMMARY
Inspect rooms connected to infested
Ancestors of the silverfish and firebrats are
areas through wall or floor penetrations,
among the most ancient insects. Silverfish prefer a
or through closet ceilings.
moist or humid environment with a moderate
Note high humidity and high
temperature. Several species of silverfish live outside
temperatures.
and inside. Firebrats, on the other hand, seek very hot
places like bakeries, furnace rooms, and hot apartment
Habitat Alterations
bathrooms.
Locate moisture sources.
Both silverfish and firebrats feed on starchy
Mend pipe leaks.
Ventilate closed rooms, attics, and
materials such as flour, paste, glue, textiles and paper
crawl spaces.
sized with starch. Boxes of books, corrugated
Dehumidify humid spaces.
cardboard, flour or cake mix spills, glued insulation
Eliminate standing water.
bats, taped heat pipes, etc. They also eat paper.
Make changes in grade and guttering
Removing the infested material is the first step in
where water runoff causes damp
control of these pests. Ventilating moist or hot spaces,
basements and walls.
and using pesticides will quickly suppress these pests.
Eliminate stored materials that harbor
bristletails.
Dispose of infested storage boxes and
relocate stored materials in dry spaces
after inspection of materials.
Module One, Chapter 6, Pg 2
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