1. The firebrat Thermobia domestica is an Apterygote species, phylogenetically related to winged insects

2. In this study, we report the analysis of the immune-related transcriptome from an Apterygote insect, the firebrat Thermobia domestica (Zygentoma, Lepismatidae), which currently emerges as a suitable model insect for evolutionary and developmental studies

3. The name Apterygota is sometimes applied to a subclass of small, agile insects, distinguished from other insects by their lack of wings in the present and in their evolutionary history; notable examples are the silverfish, the firebrat, and the jumping bristletails.Their first known occurrence in the fossil record is during the Devonian period, 417–354 million years ago.