220 INSECTS 



silvery, and found only in cellars or damp places; 

 the other is very soft-bodied, the silver mottled with 

 blackish or gray, and found in dry warm places like 



FIG. 103. The silver- fish, Lepisma domestica 



kitchens, bake-houses and pantries. They feed on 

 all sorts of starchy products and nibble preferably at 

 bits of bread, cake and the like; but at a pinch they 

 gnaw the calendered surface of paper or book bindings, 

 and have been known to attack the glossy surface of a 



