Have you ever thought of look-alike bugs? Well, many bugs have more than one name. For instance, tadpoles are called pollywogs, and Chagas bugs are known as kissing bugs. However, there is a misconception about silverfish and earwigs as they both are unique insects.

Let’s peep into the various difference between these different insects:

Appearance:

Silverfish:

As the name suggests, silverfish have pearl grey and shiny appearance. As we have seen, most of the pests have wings. Silverfish don’t have wings on their slightly flattened bodies. Thus, there is nothing such as flying silverfish. These silverfish bugs look like silver lobsters without pincers because of the way their bodies taper from head to tail.

Silverfish have around one-half to one-inch length. The three tail-like appendages resemble antennae.

Earwigs:

Earwigs also have slightly flattened bodies resembling a silverfish. However, they have stripes with black or brown color with reddish coloring on their heads and limbs.

Earwigs have around one-fourth to one-and-one-fourth inch length. Unlike silverfish, earwigs have wings, but you’ll rarely see them flying.

Earwigs have cerci. They have two stud appendages resembling pincers extending from the backend of the abdomen. These features distinguish earwigs from silverfish.

Diet:

Earwigs and silverfish prefer to have finer things in diets, such as old newspapers or books.

Silverfish:

Silverfish prefer to eat starches as their regular diet. They feed on books and other old newspapers for their survival. They don’t mind diving into your kitchen pantry if they get enough starch from cereal boxes.

They also love to eat glues in the books and wallpapers.

Earwigs:

Earwigs prefer to eat decayed organic matter and plants for their diet.

Habitat:

As we have seen above, earwigs and silverfish don’t look alike. However, they do eat alike. But let’s see do they live alike?

Do these bugs prefer to have the same choices when it comes to habitat?

Silverfish:

If you want to spot silverfish inside your house, look around the damp, dark, and moist places. Make sure you don’t see a lot of foot traffic.

Add some food sources such as books and old newspapers there you go! Silverfish are happy to be at your home as uninvited guests.

All the homeowners beware if your house has wood shingles. Silverfish tend to mold the wooden shingles and feed on them.

Also, if you want to prevent them from infesting your home keep the areas clean and dry.

Earwigs:

The best thing about these bugs is that they prefer to stay outdoors. They are nocturnal and look for damp or moist places to build their nest. We can spot earwigs on the underside of flagstones or tree bark and decaying wood.

These earwigs generally don’t enter indoors. However, they will create a problem if they do so.

If they move indoors, look for damp places such as the basement, bathroom, or crawl spaces.

Wrapping up:

As you have seen the difference between the two insects, there is one thing common between them. If both the pests move indoors, their infestation is hard to control. Make sure to call professional pest control experts to deal with the infestation.