<br> This work aims to update the systematics of silverfish of the subfamily Heterolepismatinae (Zygentoma, Lepismatidae) based on morphological and molecular data of new taxa from the Atacama Desert (Chile) with a comparison with specimens from Argentina, from where species originally described as belonging to the genus<br> Heterolepisma<br> Escherich, 1905 come. This comparison also includes COI gene sequences of Argentine specimens attributed to<br> H. andinum<br> (Silvestri, 1902), and of Australian Heterolepismatinae previously classified as<br> Heterolepisma<br> or<br> Visma<br> Smith et al., 2021. As a result, the genera<br> Lapidisma<br> gen. nov.<br> and<br> Cactisma<br> gen. nov.<br> are described from Chile, and new morphological characters diagnostic of<br> H. andinum<br> are provided. The species<br> Lapidisma paposanum<br> sp. nov.<br> and<br> Cactisma camanchaca<br> sp. nov.<br> are associated with different habitats. The species<br> Heterolepisma annectens<br> (Silvestri, 1924) is tentatively attributed to the first genus (<br> Lapidisma annectens<br> comb. nov.<br> ). The molecular data place the three South American genera in separate lineages, but cluster them as a sister group to the Australian<br> Heterolepisma<br> +<br> Visma<br> . This supports the proposal of the genus<br> Silvestrisma<br> gen. nov.<br> to include Australian species previously assigned to<br> Heterolepisma<br> . Additionally, the new name<br> Vistrolepisma<br> nom. nov.<br> is proposed for silverfish species previously assigned to the genus<br> Visma<br> , since this generic name is pre-occupied. With this re-arrangement, the subfamily Heterolepismatinae consists of six genera, pending further studies in other geographic regions where poorly studied species occur that were (and are provisionally) assigned to<br> Heterolepisma<br> .<br>
