Silverfish

The silverfish is a nocturnal insect typically {{convert|13|–|25|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} long.{{cite web|last=Day|first=Eric|date=August 1996|title=Silverfish factsheet, Department of Entomology|url=http://sites.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/silverfi.html|access-date=2008-12-25|work=Virginia Cooperative Extension|publisher=Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University}} Its abdomen tapers at the end, giving it a fish-like appearance.{{cite web|title=Thysanura – silverfish|url=http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/thysanura.html|access-date=2009-11-20|work=CSIRO Entomology|location=Australia}} The newly hatched are whitish, but develop a greyish hue and metallic sheen as they get older.{{cite web|last=Jackman|year=1981|title=Silverfish|url=http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212001329/http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg2.html|archive-date=2009-12-12|access-date=2009-11-20|work=AgriLife Extension}} It has two long cerci and one terminal filament at the tip of the abdomen between the cerci. It also has two small compound eyes, although other members of Zygentoma are eyeless, such as the family Nicoletiidae.{{cite web|title=Thysanura Families|url=http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/thysanura_families/thysanura_families.html|access-date=2009-11-20|work=CSIRO Entomology|location=Australia}}

The silverfish, like other species in Apterygota, is wingless.{{cite book|author=Hoell, H. V., Doyen, J. T. & Purcell, A. H.|title=Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998|isbn=0-19-510033-6|pages=333–340}} It has long antennae, and moves in a wiggling motion that resembles the movement of a fish.{{cite web|date=2005-07-14|title=Silverfish and Firebrats|url=http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/silverfi.html|access-date=2009-11-26|work=Iowa Insect Information Notes|publisher=Iowa State University}} This, coupled with its appearance and silvery scales, inspires its common name. Silverfish can regenerate lost terminal filaments and antennae within four weeks.{{cite book|last=Morita|first=H.|title=Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 2|date=1926|pages=271–273|chapter=Some observations on the “silverfish” (Lepisma saccharina L.)}} Silverfish typically live for up to three years.{{cite book|last=Sturm|first=H|title=Encyclopedia of Insects (2nd edn.).|date=2009|publisher=Academic Press / Elsevier|editor-last1=Resh|editor-first1=V.H.|pages=1070–2|chapter=Zygentoma|editor-last2=Cardé|editor-first2=R.T.}}

The silverfish is an agile runner. It avoids light.{{cite web|title=Silverfish – Pest Control Infestation.ca|url=http://www.infestation.ca/insects/silverfish.html}}

Silverfish are a cosmopolitan species, found in Africa, the Americas, Australia, Eurasia, and parts of the Pacific.{{cite web|last=Yates|first=Julian R. III|date=December 1992|title=Silverfish|url=http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/Kbase/urban/site/silverfish.htm|access-date=2009-11-27|publisher=University of Hawaii}} They inhabit moist areas, requiring a relative humidity between 75% and 95%.{{cite web|last=Barnes|first=Jeffrey K.|date=October 6, 2005|title=Silverfish|url=http://www.uark.edu/ua/arthmuse/silfsh.html|access-date=2008-12-25|work=Arthropod Museum Notes|publisher=University of Arkansas}} In urban areas, they can be found in attics, basements, bathtubs, showers, kitchens, sinks, libraries, and classrooms. They can live in old books.

File:Lepisma_saccharina.jpg

File:Silverfish head close-up.jpg

Before silverfish reproduce, they carry out a ritual involving three phases, which may last over half an hour. In the first phase, the male and female stand face to face, their vibrating antennae touching, then repeatedly back off and return to this position. In the second phase, the male runs away and the female chases him. In the third phase, the male and female stand side by side and head to tail, with the male vibrating his tail against the female.Sturm, Helmut (1956-01-12). {{cite journal|title=Die Paarung beim Silberfischchen Lepisma saccharina|journal=Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie|year=1956|volume=13|issue=1 |doi=10.1111/eth.1956.13.issue-1|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14390310a/1956/13/1|url-access=subscription}} Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, Band 13, Heft 1. Wiley Online Library (paywall). Access date: 2020-08-26. Finally, the male lays a spermatophore, a sperm capsule covered in gossamer, which the female takes into her body via her ovipositor to fertilize her eggs. The female lays groups of fewer than 60 eggs at once, deposited in small crevices.{{cite web|last=Houseman|first=Richard|date=August 2007|title=Silverfish and Firebrats|url=http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G7376|access-date=2009-11-24|publisher=University of Missouri Extension}} The eggs are oval-shaped, whitish, about {{convert|0.8|mm|in|abbr=on}} long,{{cite web|last=Koehler|first=P. G.|author2=Branscome, D.|author3=Oi, F. M.|title=Booklice and Silverfish|url=http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig094|access-date=2009-11-27|work=Electronic Data Information Source|publisher=University of Florida}} and take between two weeks and two months to hatch. A silverfish usually lays fewer than 100 eggs in her lifetime.

When the nymphs hatch, they are whitish in colour, and look like smaller adults. As they moult, young silverfish develop a greyish appearance and a metallic sheen, eventually becoming adults after three months to three years. They may go through 17 to 66 moults in their lifetimes, sometimes 30 in a single year—many more than most insects. Silverfish are among the few types of insect that continue to moult after reaching adulthood,{{cite book|last=Hubbell|first=Sue|url=https://archive.org/details/broadsidesfromot00hubb|title=Broadsides from the Other Orders: A book of bugs|year=1993|isbn=0-679-40062-1|url-access=registration}}

with an estimated lifespan of around 2 to 8 years.{{cite web|last=Benson|first=Eric|date=January 2001|title=Silverfish & Firebrats|url=https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/silverfish-firebrats|publisher=Clemson University Extension}}

File:Nutritional_traces_of_silverfishs_in_a_book.jpg

Silverfish are able to digest cellulose by themselves, thanks to the cellulase produced by their midgut. They consume matter that contains polysaccharides, such as starches and dextrin in adhesives. These include book bindings, carpet, clothing, coffee, dandruff, glue, hair, some paints, paper, photos, plaster, and sugar. They will damage wallpaper in order to consume the paste.{{cite web |title=Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina): An Overview and their Management |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340862380 |access-date=13 February 2023 |publisher=}} Silverfish can also cause damage to tapestries. Other substances they may eat include cotton, dead insects, linen, silk, leftover crumbs, or even their own exuviae (moulted exoskeleton). During famine, a silverfish may even consume leather and synthetic fabrics. Silverfish can live for a year or more without eating if water is available.{{Cite web|title=Bristletails (Silverfish and Firebrats) (Department of Entomology)|url=http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/bristletails-silverfish-and-firebrats|access-date=2016-04-25|website=Department of Entomology (Penn State University)}}

Silverfish are considered household pests, due to their consumption and destruction of property. However, although they are responsible for the contamination of food and other types of damage, they do not transmit disease.{{cite web|last=Hahn|first=Jeffrey|author2=Kells, Stephen A.|year=2006|title=Silverfish and Firebrats|url=http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/DK1018.html|access-date=2009-11-27|publisher=University of Minnesota Extension}} House centipedes and spiders such as the spitting spider Scytodes thoracica are known to be predators of silverfish.{{cite web|last=Jacobs|first=Steve Sr. |date=January 2006|title=House Centipedes — Entomology — Penn State University|url=http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/house-centipedes|access-date=2009-11-23|publisher=Pennsylvania State University}}{{cite web|last=Pehling|first=Dave|date=November 2007|title=Spiders|url=http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse005/inse005.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210000812/http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse005/inse005.htm|archive-date=2010-02-10|access-date=2009-11-23|publisher=Washington State University}}{{cite journal|last1=Beijne Nierop|first1=Badda M.|last2=Hakbijl|first2=Tom|date=2002|title=Ctenolepisma longicaudatum heeft ongemerkt bebouwd Nederland veroverd|url=https://edepot.wur.nl/51909|journal=Entomologische Berichten|language=nl|volume=62|issue=2|pages=34–42}}

The essential oil of the Japanese cedar Cryptomeria japonica has been investigated as a repellent and insecticide against L. saccharinum, with promising results: filter paper impregnated with oil repelled 80% of silverfish at a gas concentration of 0.01 mg/cm{{sup|3}}, and an exposure of 0.16 mg/cm{{sup|3}} for 10 hours caused a 100% mortality rate.{{cite journal|last1=Wang|first1=Sheng-Yang|last2=Lai|first2=Wan-Chi|last3=Chu|first3=Fang-Hua|last4=Lin|first4=Chien-Tsong|last5=Shen|first5=Shi-Yen|last6=Chang|first6=Shang-Tzen|date=2006|title=Essential oil from the leaves of Cryptomeria japonica acts as a silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) repellent and insecticide|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10086-006-0806-3.pdf|journal=Journal of Wood Science|volume=52|issue=6|pages=522–526|doi=10.1007/s10086-006-0806-3|s2cid=44205750}}

The scientific name for the species is Lepisma saccharinum[https://www.irmng.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=10602510 Lepisma saccharinum - IRMNG] (originally saccharina; Linnaeus' 1758 description [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727521 here]), due to its tendency to eat starchy foods high in carbohydrates and protein, such as dextrin. However, the insect's more common name comes from its distinctive metallic appearance and fish-like shape.{{cite web|title=Silverfish|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/silverfish|access-date=2009-11-20|work=Dictionary.com Unabridged}} While the scientific name was established by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, the common name has been in use since at least 1855.{{cite book|last=Linnaeus|first=Carolus|title=Systema Naturae|year=1758|edition=10th|volume=1|page=608|author-link=Carl Linnaeus}}{{cite web|last=Harper|first=Douglas|date=November 2001|title=Silverfish|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=s&p=22|access-date=2009-11-20|work=Online Etymology Dictionary}} Most authors have historically treated the nomenclatural gender of Lepisma as feminine (also as specified in ICZN Direction 71 issued in 1957), but in 2018 the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature reversed this decision, issuing a new formal ruling (ICZN Opinion 2427) stating the gender of Lepisma (and all genera with that ending) is neuter, following ICZN Article 30, which resulted in changes to the spelling of several well-known species, including Lepisma saccharinum.{{cite journal |author1=ICZN |title=Opinion 2427 (Case 3704) – Lepisma Linnaeus, 1758 (Insecta, Zygentoma, Lepismatidae): Direction 71 (1957) reversed |journal=The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature |date=2018 |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=290–294 |doi=10.21805/bzn.v75.a064|s2cid=91927954 }}

File:Silverfish_scales.jpg species]]

Other similar insect species are also known as silverfish. Two other silverfish are common in North America, Ctenolepisma longicaudatum and Ctenolepisma quadriseriatum. Ctenolepisma urbanum is known as the urban silverfish.

The Australian species most commonly referred to as silverfish is a different lepismatid, Acrotelsella devriesiana. The firebrat (Thermobia domestica) is like a silverfish, but with a mottled gray and brown body.{{cite web|title=Silverfish and firebrats in homes : Insects : University of Minnesota Extension|url=https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/silverfish-and-firebrats/|access-date=13 December 2017|website=www.extension.umn.edu}}{{clear}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Lepisma saccharina}}{{Wiktionary}}

• [http://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/occasional-invaders/silverfish/ Fact sheet on silverfish highlighting habits, habitat and threats]
• {{cite web|last=Klass|first=Carolyn|year=1981|title=Silverfish and Firebrats|url=http://idl.entomology.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/Silverfish-and-Firebrats.pdf|access-date=2015-11-16|work=Insect Diagnostic Laboratory|publisher=Cornell University}}
• [http://museumpests.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Silverfish.pdf Museumpests.net Silverfish factsheet]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q26842}}{{Authority control}}

Category:Lepismatidae

Category:Household pest insects

Category:Paleozoic insects

Category:Mesozoic insects

Category:Cenozoic insects

Category:Extant Pennsylvanian first appearances

Category:Paleozoic insects of Asia

Category:Paleozoic insects of North America

Category:Insects described in 1758

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus