Silverfish
Silverfish and firebrats are prehistoric hangovers that invade our homes to this day.
Lepisma saccharina,
frequently called
silverfish,
fishmoths,
carpet sharks, or
paramites
, are small, wingless insects in the orderThysanura. They are typically
between an inch and half an inch in length
(12–25 mm). Its common name
derives from the animal's silvery light grey and blue colour, combined
with the fish-like appearance of its movements, while the
scientific name indicates
the silverfish's diet of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches.
Silverfish are
nocturnal,
elongate, and flattened insects typically between 1 inch
(25 mm) and 0.5 inches (13 mm) in length.
Their abdomen tapers at the end, giving them a fish-like appearance.
They are born whitish, but develop a grayish hue and metallic shine as
they get older.
They have three long
cerci
at the tips of their abdomens, one parallel to their body, one facing
left, and one facing right. They also have two small
compound eyes, despite
other members of Thysanura being completely eyeless, such as the family
Nicoletiidae.
Like other species in Apterygota, silverfish completely lack wings.
They have long antennae, and move in a wiggling motion that resembles a
fish.
This, coupled with their appearance, influences their common name.
Silverfish typically live for two to eight years.
The female lays groups of less than fifty
eggs at once, deposited in small crevices.
The eggs are oval-shaped, whitish, about 1⁄32 inches
(0.079 cm) long,
and take between two weeks and two months to hatch. Silverfish usually
lay less than one hundred eggs in their lifetime.
When the nymphs hatch, they are whitish in
color, and look like smaller adults. As they molt,
young silverfish develop a grayish appearance and a metallic shine,
eventually becoming adults after three months to three years.
They may go through seventeen to sixty-six molts in their lifetime,
sometimes thirty in a single year, much more than usual for an insect.
Silverfish are one of the rare species of insect that continue to molt
after mating.[16]
