The firebrat is an alchemist of the hearth, a specialised relative of the silverfish that has traded damp corners for the blistering heat of the boiler room. While most insects avoid temperatures that would cook their internal organs, the firebrat thrives in environments that exceed 32 degrees Celsius. It is one of the few hexapods capable of colonising the most extreme thermal niches of the human world. Its anatomy is built for these high-energy, dry conditions. The firebrat has a tapered, carrot-shaped body covered in mottled grey and brown scales. Its exceptionally long antennae and three distinct tail filaments, called cerci, act as sophisticated early warning sensors for any shift in air pressure. A shadow passing overhead or a hand reaching down will trigger an immediate escape response. Firebrats hide in cracks during the day and emerge at night to scavenge. They eat starchy materials: book bindings, wallpaper paste, carpet fibres and even dead insects. Their digestive system can extract nutrition from materials that most other insects cannot break down. This flexibility allows them to survive in environments where food is scarce but heat is abundant. Their breeding cycle depends entirely on high temperatures. Females lay small batches of white eggs deep within crevices of brickwork or insulation. The eggs need consistent warmth to develop, which is why firebrats are found only near heat sources. A baker's oven, a laundry's steam pipes, a boiler room's furnace, these are the firebrat's natural habitats. Unlike many insects, firebrats continue to moult throughout their entire lives. A firebrat can live for several years if the furnace remains lit, growing larger with each moult. They are among the longest-lived of the household insects, a testament to their slow, steady metabolism. In New Zealand, firebrats pose little threat to native biodiversity. They cannot survive outdoors in our temperate climate. They are urban specialists, restricted to the warmest corners of our buildings, living in the shadows of our industrial infrastructure.