Silverfish

(Order Thysanura)

Silverfish Facts

This species is often a pest in homes and libraries.  It feeds on starchy materials, such as glue, but requires high-humidity.  It can be reared in glass jars where it will feed on cornmeal and other starchy foods.  Potatoes will provide the necessary water.  Do not let it mold or let the jar get too dry.   Other species of this poorly known order can be captured in the wild.

They are found in leaf litter and among rocks and in debris along the shore.   These insects are considered to be very primitive, perhaps the most primitive of living forms.  The appendages on the ventral surface of the abdomen are one indication of this, even though these are not functional locomotive appendages.   Silverfish might well be considered living fossils; they are much older than the dinosaurs.

Click on picture for larger image -- (500 x 343 -- 39 k)