The order Thysanura, commonly known as silverfish, are small wingless insects that have three tails and long antennae. They have scales covering their bodies and range in size up to 10mm. Major families include Lepidotrichidae and Lepismatidae. They are nocturnal herbivores or omnivores typically found in humid places like under bark or in buildings. Integrated pest management of silverfish involves both physical controls like vacuuming and drying areas as well as chemical controls using borate-based products or diatomaceous earth.

1. Order thysanura and its IPM
ATEEB AKBAR
12051514-080
BS. ZOOLOGY 7TH

2. Order Thysanura
 The name Thysanura, derived
from the Greek "thysano-"
meaning fringed and "ura"
meaning tail, refers to the
 long, fringed filaments
 bristled tail

3. Major families:
 Lepidotrichidae : Tricholepidion gertschi.
 Nicoletiidae
 Lepismatidae : Lepisma saccharina) and
Thermobia domestica.

4. General characteristics:
• wingless
• small insects, no more than 10 mm long (2/5 of an inch)
• three long, thin “tails”
• small compound eyes (ocelli)
• body often covered with silver scales
• long, thin, multi-segmented antennae
• three pairs of tiny appendages

5. Identification:
 Body relatively flat, tapered covered with scales
 Antennae long, thread-like, and
multisegmented
 Abdomen with ten complete segments
 Eleventh abdominal segment elongated to
form a median caudal filament
 Cerci present, nearly as long as median caudal
filament
 Styliform appendages located on abdominal
segments 7-9

6. classification
 Number of species worldwide: about 370
 Kingdom Animalia
 Phylum Arthropoda
 Subphylum Hexapoda
 Class Insecta
 Order Thysanura (also known as Zygentoma)

7. Reproduction:
 Thysanurans especially silverfish have an elaborate courtship ritual to
insure exchange of sperm.
 Most silverfish reproduce sexually
 He deposits a sperm packet i.e spermatophore beneath this thread and
then coaxes a female to walk under the thread. When her cerci contact the
silk thread, she picks up the spermatophore with her genital opening.
 Sperm are released into her reproductive system, and then she ejects the
empty spermatophore and eats it.

8. Life cycle:

9. Feeding:
nocturnal herbivores
Some species are omnivorous

10. Habitat:
 Under bark, leaf litter
 Some species inhabit caves
 Others found in ant and termite nests
(vegetable feeders)
 High humidity
 cupboards and bookshelves

11. IPM for order thysanura:
Two methods are present
 Physical control
 Chemical conrol

12. Physical control
 Dehumidifying
 Vacuuming
 Removal of food
 Trapping
 Eliminating harborage sites
 Drying store articles

13. Chemical control:
 Diatomaceous earth
 borate-based insecticidal dust products
 silica aerogel
 Residual insecticides

14. References:
 Delany, M. J. 1954. Thysanura and Diplura. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, Vol. 1, No. 2. Royal
Entomological Society, London. pp. 1-7.
 Tree of Life Web Project. 2002. Thysanura. Zygentoma, Silverfish and Firebrats. Version 01 January 2002.
 Schaller, F. 1968. Soil Animals. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Mich. PP 144 .
 Ebeling, W. 1975. Urban Entomology. Univ. of Cal. Press, Los Angeles.
 Mallis, A., and R.V. Caur. 1982. Silverfish. In: Mallis, A. (ed.). Handbook of Pest Control. Franzek and Foster,
Cleveland, OH.
 Olkowski, W., S. Daar, and H. Olkowski. 1991. Common-Sense Pest Control. Taunton Press, Newtown, CT.
 Figures from google images.