Primitive Silverfish vs Silverfish

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Primitive Silverfish Silverfish
Scientific Name Tricholepidion gertschi Lepisma saccharinum
Order Zygentoma Zygentoma
Family Lepidotrichidae Lepismatidae
Size 8-12 mm 10-15mm
Habitat Forests Indoors
Diet Wood Feeders Omnivores
Regions United States Worldwide
Conservation Near Threatened Least Concern

Primitive Silverfish

The most primitive living silverfish, restricted to old-growth forests of northern California. It retains compound eyes and other ancestral features.

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Did You Know?

It is considered a living fossil and the sole surviving member of its family.

Silverfish

A primitive wingless insect with a silvery scaled body and three tail filaments. A common household inhabitant.

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Did You Know?

Has existed in essentially the same form for 400 million years making it one of the oldest surviving insect designs.