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Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


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Family Lepismatidae

Silverfish - Ctenolepisma lineatum   Is this the Gray Silverfish  (Ctenolepisma longicaudata)? - Ctenolepisma longicaudatum WI070815 - 3 Lepisma saccharina - Lepisma saccharinum Silverfish Silverfish Ctenolepisma lineatum Which Silverfish - Ctenolepisma lineatum
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Zygentoma (Silverfish)
Family Lepismatidae
Explanation of Names
Lepismatidae Latreille 1802
Numbers
>200 spp. in >40 genera total
Size
up to 19 mm; common spp. 8‒12 mm
Identification
unlike other families in our area, have compound eyes
Range
cosmopolitan
Habitat
often found indoors in warm, damp environments; the Common Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) is frequently seen in bathrooms and kitchens, whereas the Firebrat (Thermobia domestica) is usually found in basements around furnaces and in insulation around hot water and heating pipes; these and other species also occur outdoors under bark, in leaf litter, caves, ant nests, etc.
Food
starchy foods, cereals, moist wheat flour, glue on book bindings and wallpaper; outdoor individuals eat lichens