Lepisma chlorosoma

Lepisma chlorosoma · Order: Zygentoma · Family: Lepismatidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Lepisma chlorosoma
Photo: Karl Leopold Escherich (18 September 1871 – 22 November 1951), Public domain

It lives in Mediterranean climates across the western Mediterranean Basin, including southern Europe and North Africa.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The head and antennae are dark, the thorax and abdomen are metallic dark green, sometimes showing reddish hues, and whitish marks appear along the abdomen; legs and palps are yellowish with reddish tones on the side hairs.

Source: Wikipedia

Is it a pest in the house?

It is often associated with ant nests of the same genera and stays at the periphery, avoiding direct contact with the workers.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It typically inhabits Mediterranean climates.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

It is frequently found near ant nests, especially those of Bothriomyrmex, Camponotus, Crematogaster, Pheidole, Tapinoma, and Tetramorium.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It occurs in the western Mediterranean Basin, recorded in southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Croatia) and North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia).

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

It closely resembles Lepisma baeticum in overall appearance, but can be distinguished by microscopic details of the setae pattern.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Questions people ask

What does Lepisma chlorosoma look like?

The head and antennae are dark, the thorax and abdomen are metallic dark green with occasional reddish hues, whitish marks run along the abdomen, and the legs and palps are yellowish with reddish side hairs.

Source: Wikipedia

Where is Lepisma chlorosoma found?

It lives in Mediterranean climates across the western Mediterranean Basin, including southern Europe and North Africa.

Source: Wikipedia

What bugs can Lepisma chlorosoma be confused with?

It looks a lot like Lepisma baeticum, but can be told apart by microscopic differences in the arrangement of its setae.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Lepismatidae)

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepisma_chlorosoma

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.