Reproduction

     The Silverfish reproduce at an extremely rapid rate.  This is one reason why they can become an annoying pest, because they will multiply into large numbers, in just a small amount of time.  The mating ritual for this insect is very specific.  No other species of insect related to the Silverfish do the same type of mating process. 

     Mating involves both a male and a female, and involves a sort of dance before hand.  The male and female will start the mating facing each other.  The male will then start a series of movements, where he will move way and towards the female.  The female will chase him away and allow him to come back to her through out the process.  After a this has taken place, they will stop right next to each other and massage each other's antennae.  This will cause the male to release his spermaphore into the female, thus fertilizing her eggs.  This complex ritual can take as long as an hour to complete.
(Redmond)

     A female silverfish can lay up to 50 fertilized eggs at one time given the anatomy that these bugs possess. Each female has five ovarioles for every ovary and males have six pair of testes (Barnhart and Stirling, 1961).  Females generally only lay eggs one time in their lifetime, but if each female is laying 50 eggs, their numbers can increase very rapidly! (PestNet, 2012)  It usually takes somewhere between 2-8 weeks for the eggs to hatch.  When the juveniles hatch out of their eggs, they will look very similar to their parents, the only difference being they will be white instead of silver.  The silver color is gained through growth and molting. (Cox,2012)