Silverfish can be accidentally brought into buildings with boxes of materials that have been stored in infested areas.  They can also move indoors from the outside.  Once inside structures, they move quickly through buildings in search for food.  When they find a source, they will generally stay close to it.

Silverfish are general feeders, consuming a large variety of materials. They especially eat foods and products that are high in protein, sugar, or starch.  This includes vegetable foods, such as flour and cereal; fabrics, including cotton, linen, silk, and rayon; sizing in paper; starch in clothing; and paste or glue.  They also eat wallpaper, book bindings, and paper when trying to feed on the glue or paste underneath them. Their damage is usually recognized from their irregular feeding marks and the presence of feces.  Silverfish and firebrats can go for months without feeding.

They are active at night and hide during the day.  They lay eggs in cracks, crevices, and other narrow, confined spaces.  Silverfish prefer cool, moist, dark places with temperatures between 70 – 80° F and a relative humidity between 75% – 95%.  They are often associated with basements, closets, bookcases, and storage areas.  Silverfish can also be associated with leaking or unventilated roofs and can be found on upper floors in buildings (if sufficient humidity exits (i.e. bathrooms).

Silverfish run with characteristic, quick movements, stopping at short intervals and then moving on rapidly.  These insects can not climb on smooth vertical surfaces and may be found trapped in sinks, bathtubs, and similar places.  Despite the circumstantial evidence, they do not come up out of drains.