Bug card No. 0537 of 1,500
Four-lined silverfish
Ctenolepisma lineatum
The four-lined silverfish is a small grey insect with no wings that wiggles along like a little fish. It has long feelers at the front and three long tails at the back. Dark brown lines often run along its body.
Lives in
First from southern Europe, now in warm places almost all over the world, indoors and outdoors
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting. Some people just do not like finding it in the house.
What does it eat?
Like other silverfish, it nibbles crumbs and starchy things such as flour, paper and glue.
How fast is it?
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Four-lined silverfish about 1 km/h (0.62 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It came from southern Europe and travelled around the world by accident, hiding in people's things.
2
It does not live in cold places like Britain or near the poles.
3
Scientists think the silverfish from different places may really be several different kinds.
you asked
Most asked questions about Four-lined silverfish
?Is the four-lined silverfish dangerous?
No. It cannot bite or sting you. It can be a nuisance in the house, but that is all.
?Where does the four-lined silverfish live?
It lives in warm places all over the world, both inside houses and outside.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ctenolepisma lineatum
- Group
- Other insects
- Family
- Lepismatidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Zygentoma > Lepismatidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Ctenolepisma lineatum (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Thorsten Denhard. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Common earwig
Silverfish
Chigoe flea
Giant earwig
Grannom
Firebrat
Vampire spider
Red poultry mite
Asian mud dauber
Sawtoothed grain beetle
Maize weevil
Mediterranean flour moth.jpg){kind=link}