Well Thysanura are basically a type of insect that have been around since the primitive existence of man. They are four kinds of Thysanura, the Lepidotrichidae which come in two species the Lepidothrix Pilifera from the Baltic Amber region of the world and the Tricholepidon Gertochi from the forested regions of Northern California in the USA. The Lepismatidae, which happens to the largest with more than 200 species of creatures living in habitation. The Maindroniide is another kind of Thysanura which is found in Middle East and Chile. Last but not least Nicoletiidae can be found all over especially in soil, human remains and under stones.
In all if that above definition is a bit too confusing. Thysanura are the silverfish, fireballs and common bristletails that you see are in and around your homes. Usually their domestic environment consists of living in your upstairs attic or basement. They are really nocturnal creatures meaning that they come out late at night looking for food, which consist of algae, lichens and starchy vegetable matter. During the day, you will usually fine them in some dark corner of your house, or under leaves and stones outside.
Their reproduction is sort of a virgin reproduction. The male and female do not interact in a sexual way. The male spins a silken thread between the substrate and vertical object. After which he deposits his semen in a sort of sack. The female will then by her cerci will pick up the semen sack up and place it inside of her. She will then burst the sack inside of her, filling herself with semen and then eating the sack.
Identification of a Thysanura is as follows:
1. They are usually very scaly
2. Eyes are usually compounded into their heads or sometimes they are not even there or can’t been seen.
3. They have very long Antennae which help with their movement and in search of food
4. Their abdomen consists of ten completed segments.
5. You could possibly find an eleventh abdominal segment, elongated to form a media caudal filament.
6. The cerci is present, it almost as long as the median caudal filament.
7. In some or all their appendages are located on the abdominal segments.
In all a Thysanura are those insects we like to stamp on because we consider them to be pest. For more intelligent reading on the Thysanura type insect, check out Wikipedia or type Thysanura in your search engine.
