Bristletail
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Bristletails (Order Thysanura) are a type of insect which includes the household pest, silverfish.
Identification
Bristletails are elongate wingless insects, named for the 2 to 3 tail-like appendages at the end of their abdomens. They have long, multi-segmented antennae, and some abdominal segments have styli (finger-like protrusions.)
Life Cycle
Bristletails undergo simple metamorphosis. Nymphs of this order are generally very similar to the adult.
Habitat
Proturans are mostly found in leaf litter, debris, or under bark or stones. Some are found in houses.
Taxonomy
Number of species
There are 50 species found in North America, and 700 worldwide.
Families
There are two suborders in this order, principally separated by the segmentation of tarsi and characteristics of the abdomen.
Bibliography
Borrer, DJ and RE White. A Field Guide to Insects: America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1970. ISBN 0-395-91170-2