Man, how could you not mention the most goated silverfish of all time, Maindronia! It lives in the atacama deserts of Chile, and it is indeed probably the most isolated animal of all time. Maindronia populations are actually negatively correlated with plant cover and insect abundance, meaning they prefer desolate wastelands. Maindronia live in areas with no other animals. No insects, no vertebrates, not even nematodes. They likely subsist on organic crud blown in by the wind.
Silverfish scales are actually a really neat feature of an otherwise discreet order. To my knowledge, only Zygentoma, Archaeognatha, and Lepidoptera possess scales that grow on top of their chitin. Even more fascinatingly, both use body scales in different manners: one uses the added surface area to improve stability and save energy on flight, while the other uses the scales to prevent them from drying out.
I remember first seeing this crawling around inside a book in my family's old library when I was a child. It was an encyclopedia so I found out what the weird little things were immediately!
Some call them primitive, when they are just keeping it simle really... Also one of the only animals that can digest cellulose without the help of microbial symbionts! I used to search silverfish (in the strict sense, meaning Lepisma saccharinum) as a child, because I was fascinated with them. I rarely met them. But today in my area there is the paper silverfish (Ctenolepisma longicaudatum) becoming more and more common. It is like the silverfish but way less needy in terms of humidity, making in more dangerous for libraries and archives (whereas the silverfsh is more of an indicator of too much moisture).
Oh dang! Never had a run in with many silverfish outside of the stray here and there, but it makes sense the tolerant species are starting to find more footholds
Ive been fascinated by silverfish my whole life so this was an awesome video for me! I actually built a small terrarium for the ones I would save from my coworkers at my job last year; they’re super chill little dudes! I’m about to wrap up on a 75 gallon “native ecosystem tank” and I think they’ll be the 1st species I (intentionally) add once the plants get established 😎
I just recently subscribed to you and then you talk about silverfish which is perfect because my house is infested with them. I saw 4 silverfish in my hallway the other day. We had some plumbing issues a while back and had some water damage to our house and that’s when these guys showed up. It’s nice to know that these little guys actually eat the mold and stuff at least.
Dang! Yea luckily they dont spread anything but hope they arent getting into anything important. Makes sense the water damage spurred it - hope yall are able to find a solution!
@@noeditbookreviews Not speciically entomology but one of my favorite ecology books as a whole is parasite rex by Carl Zimmer. Parasitism is a critically important aspect of ecology and certainly entomology and it really helps give a full perspective of it!
I imagine they can be a pretty big nuisance in more humid areas, but here in arid central california they're known for pretty much not doing anything lol. I used to see them more as a kid, it was always cool to just randomly find one scurrying around
Haha same here always just the odd one here and there! I have heard stories from friends where they just couldnt seem to get rid of the buggers but never had an issue myself
Tough question! Evolution of metamorphosis is something that could get its own video, but I recommend this article for a good background! www.scientificamerican.com/article/insect-metamorphosis-evolution/
At first the difference between ametabolic wingless and hemimetabolic winged insects is that the large, flight enabling wings couldn’t grow new wings inside them indefinitely without reducing their functionality. So once they were fully developed and maturity was reached the imago had to stop growing and moulting. Then the difference between hemimetabolic and holometabolic insects is the pupa as a non-eating resting stage for enduring seasons with unfavourable conditions and synchronising maturity. The pupa allows the larva and imago to become increasingly different. In butterflies the pupa is so far reduced in external complexity that it allows for a complete reorganisation and allows the larva and imago to become extremely different from each other.
I usually see them on boulders around where I live. And they all jump at the same time when I slap the rock. I've always wondered why they do that. Has anyone else seen this behavior before?
They might be jumping bristletails! Different order - Archaeognatha (their video is up next). Both orders like to hide out under rocks but archaeognatha do like to jump when threatened!
I am from Brazil and I thought they didn't exist here, but I have seen two (or maybe the same individual in two different occasions) in my old job that had a lot of old paper archives.
I was think these look like bugs I find in old books, I think I found one of these in my laundry today actually but it was multi colored unlike the ivory ones I see in old books.
@insectspotlightproject Oh, don't get me started about ridding turn of the century homes of these pests and how their bigger relatives munch trough our fences in the area... they are the bane of a woodworker who likes old homes and books. 🤣
Man, how could you not mention the most goated silverfish of all time, Maindronia! It lives in the atacama deserts of Chile, and it is indeed probably the most isolated animal of all time. Maindronia populations are actually negatively correlated with plant cover and insect abundance, meaning they prefer desolate wastelands. Maindronia live in areas with no other animals. No insects, no vertebrates, not even nematodes. They likely subsist on organic crud blown in by the wind.
Now THAT is extreme - this is a new one for me, they definitely deserved a mention!
I think every kids introduction to these is through minecraft.
Haha minecraft doing their part! We need more insect mobs though!
For me, it was on the bathroom floor 😅
@østkantproprietæren It was a carpet/curtain store when I was little for me. :p
I grew up in a super dry area so it was mine for sure lol
this was remarkably well written for a 3000 subscriber channel
you definitely got me hooked, time to go binge the rest of the orders
Thanks so much! Glad the content hit the right chord 🙌
Hate seeing these damn things on my bathroom walls.
Great vid.
Thank you! Yea they can be persistent 😂
silverfish are one of my favorite little critters to see scurrying around
Haha hope they didnt get into anything important! Never lived somewhere with a large populations of them but enjoy seeing them pop up here and there
Silverfish scales are actually a really neat feature of an otherwise discreet order. To my knowledge, only Zygentoma, Archaeognatha, and Lepidoptera possess scales that grow on top of their chitin. Even more fascinatingly, both use body scales in different manners: one uses the added surface area to improve stability and save energy on flight, while the other uses the scales to prevent them from drying out.
It does seem like quite a novel trait for such a basal order! Those scales also make them slippery as hell - trying to pick one up is a nightmare 😭
@ Slippery… like a fish. It’s pretty fitting that such an ancient insect is practically a bottom feeding fish with legs.
I remember first seeing this crawling around inside a book in my family's old library when I was a child. It was an encyclopedia so I found out what the weird little things were immediately!
Haha perfect timing! That wouldve been great if it was hiding out on its own page
I’ve only met a silverfish once, it was on a wall in the bathroom of a Denny’s, which also happened to have a significant rat problem
Lol leave it to Dennys - they got their own ecosystem going in there 😂
Some call them primitive, when they are just keeping it simle really...
Also one of the only animals that can digest cellulose without the help of microbial symbionts!
I used to search silverfish (in the strict sense, meaning Lepisma saccharinum) as a child, because I was fascinated with them. I rarely met them. But today in my area there is the paper silverfish (Ctenolepisma longicaudatum) becoming more and more common. It is like the silverfish but way less needy in terms of humidity, making in more dangerous for libraries and archives (whereas the silverfsh is more of an indicator of too much moisture).
Oh dang! Never had a run in with many silverfish outside of the stray here and there, but it makes sense the tolerant species are starting to find more footholds
If all the various pressures have not forced change in them, they must have hit on some good ways of living!
Great video! Love how you give credits to all the photos featured in the video.
Thanks so much! and for sure! these photographers are the backbone of this channel 🙏
Ive been fascinated by silverfish my whole life so this was an awesome video for me!
I actually built a small terrarium for the ones I would save from my coworkers at my job last year; they’re super chill little dudes!
I’m about to wrap up on a 75 gallon “native ecosystem tank” and I think they’ll be the 1st species I (intentionally) add once the plants get established 😎
Oh thats sick! Love the ecosystem terrariums people create - you should def take some videos of it once its up and running!
@ yeah maybe I will 😎
I just recently subscribed to you and then you talk about silverfish which is perfect because my house is infested with them. I saw 4 silverfish in my hallway the other day. We had some plumbing issues a while back and had some water damage to our house and that’s when these guys showed up. It’s nice to know that these little guys actually eat the mold and stuff at least.
Dang! Yea luckily they dont spread anything but hope they arent getting into anything important. Makes sense the water damage spurred it - hope yall are able to find a solution!
I knew the moment i saw those bug pokemon plushes that my recommended feed was finally working
Lol GOTTA rep the bug mons 🙌
Your new edits are getting funnier, boss!
Lol thank ya! Trying my best 😂
I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS. I hope you have some cool things brewing for the future.
Thank you!! Dont worry we're gonna keep the content flowing for sure 🙌
Subsctibed! Interesting vid!
Thanks so much!
So cool!
Thank you!
Oh, hell yeah, I was just reading about these guys yesterday in Michael Engel's Innumerable Insects!
Ayy perfect timing! Still gotta read that one!
@insectspotlightproject Hey, if there are any good entomology books or scientists you'd recommend looking into, I would certainly appreciate it.
@@noeditbookreviews Not speciically entomology but one of my favorite ecology books as a whole is parasite rex by Carl Zimmer. Parasitism is a critically important aspect of ecology and certainly entomology and it really helps give a full perspective of it!
@insectspotlightproject oh cool, thanks man! I do like Carl Zimmer's books and that's one I haven't read. 👍👍 I'm gonna check that out now.
@@noeditbookreviews No prob! Let me know what you think
Nice video!
Thanks so much!
I imagine they can be a pretty big nuisance in more humid areas, but here in arid central california they're known for pretty much not doing anything lol. I used to see them more as a kid, it was always cool to just randomly find one scurrying around
Haha same here always just the odd one here and there! I have heard stories from friends where they just couldnt seem to get rid of the buggers but never had an issue myself
omg YAY ive been waiting for this one
Haha glad the silverfish have some fans out there! 🙌
I love silverfish. Sometimes they fall from the ceiling and I'm like ❤friend
lol clumsy little dudes
How did metamorphosis evolve?
What came first the caterpillar or the butterfly?
Tough question! Evolution of metamorphosis is something that could get its own video, but I recommend this article for a good background! www.scientificamerican.com/article/insect-metamorphosis-evolution/
At first the difference between ametabolic wingless and hemimetabolic winged insects is that the large, flight enabling wings couldn’t grow new wings inside them indefinitely without reducing their functionality. So once they were fully developed and maturity was reached the imago had to stop growing and moulting. Then the difference between hemimetabolic and holometabolic insects is the pupa as a non-eating resting stage for enduring seasons with unfavourable conditions and synchronising maturity. The pupa allows the larva and imago to become increasingly different. In butterflies the pupa is so far reduced in external complexity that it allows for a complete reorganisation and allows the larva and imago to become extremely different from each other.
I usually see them on boulders around where I live. And they all jump at the same time when I slap the rock. I've always wondered why they do that. Has anyone else seen this behavior before?
They might be jumping bristletails! Different order - Archaeognatha (their video is up next). Both orders like to hide out under rocks but archaeognatha do like to jump when threatened!
@insectspotlightproject that makes sense.
I am from Brazil and I thought they didn't exist here, but I have seen two (or maybe the same individual in two different occasions) in my old job that had a lot of old paper archives.
Yup theyre quite widespread! The old paper archives makes sense as a good place to stumble upon em 😄
@insectspotlightproject Yeah, but I have never seen one before or since, I was pretty surprised
I was think these look like bugs I find in old books, I think I found one of these in my laundry today actually but it was multi colored unlike the ivory ones I see in old books.
Sounds like you might have found a firebrat!
Yay you’re back! Did you get a haircut? :)
We've returned 🙌 and yes, I did!
@@insectspotlightproject Awesome, it looked neater and shorter but both looked great:)
@@TheNightshadePrince Thank ya! Yea I just cut it whenever it starts getting annoying
Minecraft mentioned
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the bio-nerd pokémon fan combo strikes again!
Its a pretty strong pipeline 😂
The rats of insects. Not a dis.
Despicable creatures, all of them but hey it happens and is needed in nature.
Spoken like someone who has had personal experiences with em 😂
@insectspotlightproject Oh, don't get me started about ridding turn of the century homes of these pests and how their bigger relatives munch trough our fences in the area... they are the bane of a woodworker who likes old homes and books. 🤣
Slightly squint your left eye every 3 seconds. Does it have a secret meaning? Do you want to tell us something?
If you overlap all the videos the pattern sends a message in morse code
@insectspotlightproject omg...