# Help me ID and kill this bug **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117 "2007-05-22T19:24:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/21 "2007-05-23T09:12:25Z")
I have to say that in all of the silverfish I’ve ever seen (not a few), the antennae and legs are far less conspicuous that in all of the online photographs I can find. Having said that, it does sound like the OP is describing something a bit more gelatinous and amorphous than a silverfish. Maybe some kind of flatworm or nematode? ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/22 "2007-05-23T14:59:03Z")
Could be an immature silverfish. Immature ones lack the silvery scales and long feelers that are associated with adults - they’re more of a dull grey. If they move quickly, it’s likely to be silverfish. If they are moist, and crawl or ooze slowly, I’d say it sounds like you’ve got some sort of maggot or larva. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/23 "2007-05-23T16:08:13Z")
[QUOTE=Dag Otto] You mean squishing them into a gray smear doesn’t kill them??? :eek: [/QUOTE] I guess this is where “nuke 'em from orbit” comes into play. ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/24 "2007-05-23T16:19:07Z")
Sounds to me like Drain Fly larvae. Pretty soon you will have the little moth-like fly flitting about. Here’s some info… [Link](http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/Extension/DiagnosticLab/IDLFS/DrainFlies/DrainFlies.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/25 "2007-05-23T16:25:05Z")
They are baby Vermicious Knids. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/26 "2007-05-23T16:39:24Z")
[QUOTE=Count Blucher] I know this isn’t funny, but my best guess is either Steve McQueen’s Blob or the aliens in [‘Slither’](http://www.filmsy.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/Slither1.jpg). [/QUOTE] Yeah, if they don’t have jellyfish legs coming out the back, we can rule out the creature from The Hidden. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/27 "2007-05-23T17:05:21Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] They are baby Vermicious Knids. [/QUOTE] By the way, apparently the first letter is “c”. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/28 "2007-05-23T19:09:46Z")
They seem to be exactly like Tikki described. They move very quickly and I can’t always catch them. I am reluctant to start peeling cracked tiles off the wall to find their hiding place, but it seems like I may have to. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/29 "2007-05-24T02:20:51Z")
I vote for silverfish. They like paper, dark and damp. Try cleaning your tile with bleach (diluted) or ammonia, but not both (at least not at the same time). And keep the place as paper free and dry as you can. I tend to find silverfish in old books in damp basements. I doubt they’re all that interested in Kleenex or tp, but I’m not privy (sorry, terrible pun there) to the secret longings of silverfish… ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/30 "2007-05-24T14:58:18Z")
Hey psychobunny - go [here](http://www.pestcontrolcanada.com/Questions/pest_photos_601.htm) and scroll down to #685. Tell us if that’s similar to what you’re seeing. That picture looks more like the silverfish I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/31 "2007-05-24T15:12:06Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] > [@Dung Beetle](#): > > They are baby Vermicious Knids. By the way, apparently the first letter is “c”. [/QUOTE] Cermicious knids it is then! ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117/32 "2007-05-25T01:35:52Z")
I think they are probably silverfish. I rarely see more than one or two, and always in the same bathroom. I read that they can live in the walls. Do I have to go through my whole townhouse, and take the books out of every bookshelf? From what I read online, I can kill them with boric acid, which should be OK with my cats. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-and-kill-this-bug/405117.md?page=1)