Abstract
Simple SummaryCtenolepisma longicaudatum, an invasive silverfish species, has high tolerance to low humidity and temperatures and has been passively introduced to the majority of European territory. Its presence may cause stress and discomfort to people inhabiting or working the infested areas. In addition, it may cause damage to organic materials, contaminate food and carry microbes. This paper summarizes the available data on its spreading and current distribution of species in Europe and displayed the species is present throughout the continent including Scandinavia. This northward shift of C. longicaudatum might be explained by use of the insulation and central heating to provide optimal climate for the species to establish. The paper also contains updates on the current status of C. longicaudatum in Czechia, United Kingdom, and Ireland, where its first populations were recently detected. Based on the collected data, the spread in the monitored countries continues rapidly, when the domestic settings were the main habitat. Furthermore, the species is often present in accommodation facilities, warehouses, factories, public institutions, shopping malls, archives, museums, and art galleries. Therefore, the study indicates the species may occur everywhere indoors. The paper also highlights an urgent need for establishment of effective pest management strategy and preventive measures.Synanthropic invasive silverfish, Ctenolepisma longicaudatum, has been recently reported to cause nuisance in the indoor environment in many European countries. To get more details on the species distribution, the species occurrence was monitored by the authors in the countries where establishment of C. longicaudatum has been revealed in the last years. In Czechia, 20 findings from 14 municipalities in eight regions were recorded within the last three years. In the United Kingdom, 49 cases, including the first occurrence in Scotland, were recorded. Five cases were recorded for the Republic of Ireland. Domestic settings were the main habitat in the study countries (50.0% for the Czechia and Ireland and 36.8% for the United Kingdom). Regarding C. longicaudatum control, the standard silverfish strategy fails, and the use of insecticidal baits complemented by dust insecticides was suggested as the most promising approach. To reveal presence of C. longicaudatum in Europe, the search of literature, social platforms and databases on invasive species was conducted. According to these sources, the species is known from majority of European countries, when the high increase of records in recent decade was detected.
Highlights
Biological invasions, in general, cause huge global environmental and socio-economic losses [1], when intercontinental traffic is known to be one of the main sources of nonnative organisms [2] and anthropogenic activities are the main driver of non-native species introductions
The species known under the common names of giant silverfish, gray silverfish, long-tailed silverfish, or paperfish [4,5] is a synanthropic invasive pest from the family Lepismatidae, with uncertain native range [6,7], even though some authors speculate that it may originate from the central parts of America [7]
The identification of silverfish from photographs might be sometimes confusing, C. longicaudatum is as different from another European synanthropic species as such identification is possible [27] and the majority of the reports uploaded on the investigated social sites seem to be identified correctly
Summary
Biological invasions, in general, cause huge global environmental and socio-economic losses [1], when intercontinental traffic is known to be one of the main sources of nonnative organisms [2] and anthropogenic activities are the main driver of non-native species introductions. Ctenolepisma longicaudatum Escherich (1905) (Zygentoma; Lepismatidae), a wingless primitive insect, whose adults can live for a long time and continue to molt. The species known under the common names of giant silverfish, gray silverfish, long-tailed silverfish, or paperfish [4,5] is a synanthropic invasive pest from the family Lepismatidae, with uncertain native range [6,7], even though some authors speculate that it may originate from the central parts of America [7]. The species was synonymized with Ctenolepisma coreana Uchida (1943), Ctenolepisma dives Silvestri (1908), Ctenolepisma pinicola Uchida (1964), Ctenolepisma urbana Slabaugh (1940), and Lepisma corticola Ridley (1890)
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