urbpan | 365 urban species. #275: Silverfish

Urban species #275: Silverfish Lepisma saccharina

Forgive me please, and my blurry photographs. These things are so damn fast! I discovered this individual quite by accident. I was walking through the concourse between the Washington Street stop and the Park Street stop in the subway, when I happened to see two large American cockroaches. While I was taking pictures of them, a whitish blur zipped by. I couldn't believe my luck: I stopped for one urban species and found another. Too bad I didn't get better photographs.

This rapid-moving subway dwelling insect is a silverfish. It's belongs to an ancient group of animals; silverfish evolved before Nature thought to provide insects with wings. When humans came along hundreds of millions of years later, silverfish took advantage of our warm buildings full of starchy, plant-based objects. They come into homes, lurking in crevices and moving at night, and feeding on textiles, glues, paper, and other substances. They cause no bodily harm or disease to their primate landlords, though many people are alarmed by their appearance. Their bodies are covered with tiny scales that give them a silvery look and a slippery texture. Their rapid scuttling, like that of cockroaches and house centipedes, can be an unsettling surprise in the night.