Silverfish

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Silverfish
LepismaSaccharina.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Zygentoma
Family: Lepismatidae
Genus: Lepisma
Species:
L. saccharinum
Binomial name
Lepisma saccharinum
Synonyms

Lepisma saccharinaLinnaeus, 1758
Forbicina planaGeoffroy, 1762
Lepisma vulgarisScopoli, 1763
Tinea argentinaBaker, 1780
Lepisma semicylindricaDe Geer, 1782
Lepisma sacchariferaMohr, 1786 (missp.)
Lepisma quercetorumWygodzinsky, 1945

Contents

The silverfish (Lepisma saccharinum) is a species of small, primitive, [1] wingless insect in the order Zygentoma (formerly Thysanura). Its common name derives from the insect's silvery light grey colour, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements. The scientific name (L. saccharinum) indicates that the silverfish's diet consists of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches. While the common name silverfish is used throughout the global literature to refer to various species of Zygentoma, the Entomological Society of America restricts use of the term solely for Lepisma saccharinum. [2]

Description

The silverfish is a nocturnal insect typically 13–25 mm (0.5–1.0 in) long. [3] Its abdomen tapers at the end, giving it a fish-like appearance. [4] The newly hatched are whitish, but develop a greyish hue and metallic sheen as they get older. [5] 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. [4] [6]

The silverfish, like other species in Apterygota, is wingless. [4] [7] It has long antennae, and moves in a wiggling motion that resembles the movement of a fish. [8] This, coupled with its appearance and silvery scales, inspires its common name. Silverfish can regenerate lost terminal filaments and antennae within four weeks. [9] Silverfish typically live for up to three years. [10]

The silverfish is an agile runner. It avoids light. [11]

Distribution

Silverfish are a cosmopolitan species, found in Africa, the Americas, Australia, Eurasia, and parts of the Pacific. [12] They inhabit moist areas, requiring a relative humidity between 75% and 95%. [13] In urban areas, they can be found in attics, basements, bathtubs, sinks, kitchens, old books, classrooms, and showers. [5]

Reproduction and life cycle

A silverfish Lepisma saccharina.jpg
A silverfish
Silverfish head close-up Silverfish head close-up.jpg
Silverfish head close-up

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. [14] 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. [15] The eggs are oval-shaped, whitish, about 0.8 mm (0.031 in) long, [16] and take between two weeks and two months to hatch. A silverfish usually lays fewer than 100 eggs in her lifetime. [3]

When the nymphs hatch, they are whitish in colour, and look like smaller adults. [1] As they moult, young silverfish develop a greyish appearance and a metallic sheen, eventually becoming adults after three months to three years. [15] 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, [17] with an estimated lifespan of around 2 to 8 years. [18]

Ecology

Pages in a book damaged by silverfish that consumed portions of it. Nutritional traces of silverfishs in a book.jpg
Pages in a book damaged by silverfish that consumed portions of it.

Silverfish are able to digest cellulose by themselves, thanks to the cellulase produced by their midgut. [10] They consume matter that contains polysaccharides, such as starches and dextrin in adhesives. [5] 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. [19] 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. [3] [5] [20]

Silverfish are considered household pests, due to their consumption and destruction of property. [3] However, although they are responsible for the contamination of food and other types of damage, they do not transmit disease. [5] [21] House centipedes and spiders such as the spitting spider Scytodes thoracica are known to be predators of silverfish. [22] [23] [24]

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/cm3, and an exposure of 0.16 mg/cm3 for 10 hours caused a 100% mortality rate. [25]

Etymology and nomenclature

The scientific name for the species is Lepisma saccharinum [26] (originally saccharina; Linnaeus' 1758 description here), due to its tendency to eat starchy foods high in carbohydrates and protein, such as dextrin. [5] However, the insect's more common name comes from its distinctive metallic appearance and fish-like shape. [27] 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. [28] [29] 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. [30]

Evolution

The predecessors of silverfish, along with those of jumping bristletails, are considered the earliest and most primitive insects. They evolved at the latest in mid-Devonian and possibly as early as late Silurian more than 400 million years ago. [31] Some fossilized arthropod trackways from the Paleozoic Era, known as Stiaria intermedia and often attributed to jumping bristletails, may have been produced by silverfish. [32]

Similar species

Ctenolepisma species Silverfish scales.jpg
Ctenolepisma species

Other similar insect species are also known as silverfish. Two other silverfish are common in North America, Ctenolepisma longicaudatum and Ctenolepisma quadriseriatum . [15] Ctenolepisma urbanum is known as the urban silverfish. [12]

The Australian species most commonly referred to as silverfish is a different lepismatid, Acrotelsella devriesiana . [4] The firebrat (Thermobia domestica) is like a silverfish, but with a mottled gray and brown body. [33]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thysanura</span> Deprecated order of insects

Thysanura is the now deprecated name of what was, for over a century, recognised as an order in the class Insecta. The two constituent groups within the former order, the Archaeognatha and the Zygentoma, share several characteristics, such as of having three long caudal filaments, the lateral ones being the cerci, while the one between (telson) is a medial cerciform appendage, specifically an epiproct. They are also both wingless, and have bodies covered with fine scales, rather like the scales of the practically unrelated Lepidoptera. In the late 20th century, it was recognized that the two suborders were not sister taxa, therefore Thysanura was paraphyletic, and the two suborders were each raised to the status of an independent monophyletic order, with Archaeognatha sister taxon to the Dicondylia, including the Zygentoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pterygota</span> Subclass of insects

Pterygota is a subclass of insects that includes all winged insects and groups who lost them secondarily.

<i>Lepisma</i> Genus of silverfishes

Lepisma is a genus of primitive insects in the order Zygentoma and the family Lepismatidae.

Several wingless hexapods are known as bristletails:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firebrat</span> Insect similar to a silverfish

The firebrat is a small insect in the order Zygentoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apterygota</span> Subclass of insects

The name Apterygota is sometimes applied to a former subclass of small, agile insects, distinguished from other insects by their lack of wings in the present and in their evolutionary history; notable examples are the silverfish, the firebrat, and the jumping bristletails. Their first known occurrence in the fossil record is during the Devonian period, 417–354 million years ago. The group Apterygota is not a clade; it is paraphyletic, and not recognized in modern classification schemes. As defined, the group contains two separate clades of wingless insects: Archaeognatha comprises jumping bristletails, while Zygentoma comprises silverfish and firebrats. The Zygentoma are in the clade Dicondylia with winged insects, a clade that includes all other insects, while Archaeognatha is sister to this lineage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeognatha</span> Order of wingless insects

The Archaeognatha are an order of apterygotes, known by various common names such as jumping bristletails. Among extant insect taxa they are some of the most evolutionarily primitive; they appeared in the Middle Devonian period at about the same time as the arachnids. Specimens that closely resemble extant species have been found as both body and trace fossils in strata from the remainder of the Paleozoic Era and more recent periods. For historical reasons an alternative name for the order is Microcoryphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Machilidae</span> Family of jumping bristletails

The Machilidae are a family of insects belonging to the order Archaeognatha. There are around 450 described species worldwide. These insects are wingless, elongated and more or less cylindrical with a distinctive humped thorax and covered with tiny, close-fitting scales. The colour is usually grey or brown, sometimes intricately patterned. There are three "tails" at the rear of the abdomen: two cerci and a long central epiproct. They have large compound eyes, often meeting at a central point. They resemble the silverfish and the firebrat, which are from a different order, Zygentoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lepismatidae</span> Family of silverfishes

Lepismatidae is a family of primitive wingless insects with about 190 described species. This family contains the two most familiar members of the order Zygentoma: the silverfish and the firebrat. It is one of five families in the order Zygentoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zygentoma</span> Order of insects

Zygentoma are an order in the class Insecta, and consist of about 550 known species. The Zygentoma include the so-called silverfish or fishmoths, and the firebrats. A conspicuous feature of the order are the three long caudal filaments. The two lateral filaments are cerci, and the medial one is an epiproct or appendix dorsalis. In this they resemble the Archaeognatha, although the cerci of Zygentoma, unlike in the latter order, are nearly as long as the epiproct.

<i>Ctenolepisma</i> Genus of silverfishes

Ctenolepisma is a genus of primitive insects in the order Zygentoma, closely related to the silverfish and firebrat but less reliant on human habitation, some species being found both indoors and outdoors and some found exclusively outdoors. The genus is distributed nearly worldwide in warm regions. Australia lacks native Ctenolepisma, but is home to introduced species.

<i>Ctenolepisma lineatum</i> Species of silverfish

Ctenolepisma lineatum is a species of insect of the order Zygentoma. It is similar to the closely related silverfish but can be distinguished by being rather stouter and less shiny with all appendages noticeably longer. The abdomen is often marked with dark brown lines and the species is sometimes called four-lined silverfish.

A silverfish is a wingless insect in the order Zygentoma. The same name can be applied to many species in the order as a whole, which comprises the families Lepismatidae, Nicoletiidae, Lepidotrichidae, Maindroniidae and Protrinemuridae.

Tricholepisma is a genus of primitive insects belonging to the family Lepismatidae.

<i>Orchesella cincta</i> Species of springtail

Orchesella cincta is a species of springtail present in North America and Europe. They average 4 millimetres (0.16 in) in length, which is extremely large as most springtails don’t grow past 1 millimetre. The specific name cincta means "belted" and refers to the distinctive colouration of the third abdominal segment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dicondylia</span> Unranked taxon between Insecta and Pterygota

The Dicondylia are a taxonomic group (taxon) that includes all insects except the jumping bristletails (Archaeognatha). Dicondylia have a mandible attached with two hinges to the head capsule (dicondyl), in contrast to a hypothetical ancestral mandible with a single ball joint (monocondyl); the members of Archaeognatha do in fact have dicondylic mandibles, though they are not identical to the structure seen in "true" dicondylic insects.

<i>Tricholepidion</i> Species of silverfish

Tricholepidion is a genus of wingless insect belonging to Zygentoma, with only a single described species T. gertschi, native to the northern coast of California in Western North America. It lives under dead bark and in rotting wood of conifers in mesophytic forests. It is alternatively considered the only living member of the family Lepidotrichidae, which also includes Lepidotrix from Eocene aged European amber, or the only member of the family Tricholepidiidae. The taxonomic position of Tricholepidion is uncertain, in some molecular phylogenetics studies it has been recovered as less closely related to flying insects (Pterygota) than the rest of Zygentoma is, rendering Zygentoma paraphyletic. Each compound eye contains ~40 ommatidia, and they have three ocelli. Scales on the body are absent. Unlike Archaeognatha and the other families of Zygentoma, which have three- and sometimes two-segmented tarsi, they have five-segmented tarsi like many winged insects.

<i>Ctenolepisma longicaudatum</i> Species of insect

Ctenolepisma longicaudatum, generally known as the gray silverfish, long-tailed silverfish or paper silverfish, is a species of Zygentoma in the family Lepismatidae. It was described by the German entomologist Karl Leopold Escherich in 1905 based on specimens collected in South Africa, but is found worldwide as synanthrope in human housings.

Mycotypha microspora, also known as Microtypha microspora, is a filamentous fungus in the division Zygomycota. It was discovered in a Citrus aurantium peel in 1932 by E. Aline Fenner, who proposed a new genus Mycotypha to accommodate it. Mycotypha africana, which is another species in the genus Mycotypha, is closely related to M. microspora. The fungus has subsequently been isolated from both outdoor and indoor settings around the world, and is typically found in soil and dung. The species rarely causes infections in humans, but has recently been involved in the clinical manifestation of the life-threatening disease mucormycosis.

Sceletolepisma is a genus of primitive insects closely related to the silverfish and firebrat but less reliant on human habitation, some species being found both indoors and outdoors and some found exclusively outdoors. The genus is distributed nearly worldwide in warm regions.

References

  1. 1 2 Parkinson B. J. & Horne D. (2007). A photographic guide to insects of new zealand. New Holland. p. 14. ISBN   978-1-86966-151-9.
  2. ↑ Phillips, Eleanor F.; Gillett-Kaufman, Jennifer L. (2018). "Silverfish - Lepisma saccharina". Featured Creatures - Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Day, Eric (August 1996). "Silverfish factsheet, Department of Entomology". Virginia Cooperative Extension. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University . Retrieved 2008-12-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Thysanura – silverfish". CSIRO Entomology. Australia. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jackman (1981). "Silverfish". AgriLife Extension. Archived from the original on 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  6. ↑ "Thysanura Families". CSIRO Entomology. Australia. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  7. ↑ Hoell, H. V., Doyen, J. T. & Purcell, A. H. (1998). Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. pp. 333–340. ISBN   0-19-510033-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Silverfish and Firebrats". Iowa Insect Information Notes. Iowa State University. 2005-07-14. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  9. ↑ Morita, H. (1926). "Some observations on the "silverfish" (Lepisma saccharina L.)". Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 2. pp. 271–273.
  10. 1 2 Sturm, H (2009). "Zygentoma". In Resh, V.H.; Cardé, R.T. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Insects (2nd edn.). Academic Press / Elsevier. pp. 1070–2.
  11. ↑ "Silverfish – Pest Control Infestation.ca".
  12. 1 2 Yates, Julian R. III (December 1992). "Silverfish". University of Hawaii . Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  13. ↑ Barnes, Jeffrey K. (October 6, 2005). "Silverfish". Arthropod Museum Notes. University of Arkansas . Retrieved 2008-12-25.
  14. ↑ Sturm, Helmut (1956-01-12). "Die Paarung beim Silberfischchen Lepisma saccharina". Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. 13 (1). 1956. doi:10.1111/eth.1956.13.issue-1. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, Band 13, Heft 1. Wiley Online Library (paywall). Access date: 2020-08-26.
  15. 1 2 3 Houseman, Richard (August 2007). "Silverfish and Firebrats". University of Missouri Extension. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  16. ↑ Koehler, P. G.; Branscome, D.; Oi, F. M. "Booklice and Silverfish". Electronic Data Information Source. University of Florida . Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  17. ↑ Hubbell, Sue (1993). Broadsides from the Other Orders: A book of bugs . ISBN   0-679-40062-1.
  18. ↑ Benson, Eric (January 2001). "Silverfish & Firebrats". Clemson University Extension.
  19. ↑ "Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina): An Overview and their Management" . Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  20. ↑ "Bristletails (Silverfish and Firebrats) (Department of Entomology)". Department of Entomology (Penn State University). Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  21. ↑ Hahn, Jeffrey; Kells, Stephen A. (2006). "Silverfish and Firebrats". University of Minnesota Extension. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  22. ↑ Jacobs, Steve Sr. (January 2006). "House Centipedes — Entomology — Penn State University". Pennsylvania State University . Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  23. ↑ Pehling, Dave (November 2007). "Spiders". Washington State University. Archived from the original on 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  24. ↑ Beijne Nierop, Badda M.; Hakbijl, Tom (2002). "Ctenolepisma longicaudatum heeft ongemerkt bebouwd Nederland veroverd". Entomologische Berichten (in Dutch). 62 (2): 34–42.
  25. ↑ Wang, Sheng-Yang; Lai, Wan-Chi; Chu, Fang-Hua; Lin, Chien-Tsong; Shen, Shi-Yen; Chang, Shang-Tzen (2006). "Essential oil from the leaves of Cryptomeria japonica acts as a silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) repellent and insecticide" (PDF). Journal of Wood Science. 52 (6): 522–526. doi:10.1007/s10086-006-0806-3. S2CID   44205750.
  26. ↑ Lepisma saccharinum - IRMNG
  27. ↑ "Silverfish". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  28. ↑ Linnaeus, Carolus (1758). Systema Naturae . Vol. 1 (10th  ed.). p. 608.
  29. ↑ Harper, Douglas (November 2001). "Silverfish". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  30. ↑ ICZN (2018). "Opinion 2427 (Case 3704) – Lepisma Linnaeus, 1758 (Insecta, Zygentoma, Lepismatidae): Direction 71 (1957) reversed". The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 75 (1): 290–294. doi:10.21805/bzn.v75.a064. S2CID   91927954.
  31. ↑ Grimaldi, David; Engel, Michael S. (2005). Evolution of the Insects . Cambridge University Press. pp.  148–155. ISBN   0-521-82149-5.
  32. ↑ Getty, Patrick; Sproule; Wagner; Bush (2013). "Variation in Wingless Insect Trace Fossils: Insights from Neoichnology and the Pennsylvanian of Massachusetts". PALAIOS. 28 (4): 243–258. Bibcode:2013Palai..28..243G. doi:10.2110/palo.2012.p12-108r. S2CID   86430759.
  33. ↑ "Silverfish and firebrats in homes : Insects : University of Minnesota Extension". www.extension.umn.edu. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
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