Long-Tailed Silverfish: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Creepy Crawlies · day 6 of 7

Five facts

1. A newly hatching silverfish has a special organ on its head to break out of the egg. Hatching takes about five minutes.
2. Gray silverfish can survive about 250 to 300 days without food.
3. Gray silverfish can digest the cellulose in paper, which makes them pests in libraries and archives.
4. Gray silverfish can live about eight years, and unlike most insects they keep moulting as adults, three to five times a year.
5. In dry air, gray silverfish die within a month. Kept in a lab, they need 70 to 85% humidity.

The quiz

1. How long does a gray silverfish take to hatch?

• Roughly five hours
• Roughly five days
• Roughly five minutes (correct)
• Roughly five weeks

Using a special organ on its head, it hatches in about five minutes.

2. How long can gray silverfish survive without food?

• Up to 300 days (correct)
• Up to 3 days
• Up to 30 days
• Up to 3 years

They can survive about 250 to 300 days without food.

3. What can gray silverfish digest?

• Glass
• Metal
• Stone
• The cellulose in paper (correct)

They digest the cellulose in paper, so they are pests in libraries and archives.

4. How often do adult gray silverfish moult?

• Never
• Three to five times a year (correct)
• Every day
• Once every ten years

Adults keep moulting three to five times a year.

5. What happens to silverfish in dry conditions?

• They perish within a month (correct)
• They grow longer antennae
• They hatch faster
• They live eight years

In dry conditions they die within a month.

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