Gray silverfish - lateral, Heesch, Netherlands

This one dared to trespass in holy territory: my man cave. I found it underneath some diffusers, in a shallow metal container I use to store stuff. These insects are unable to climb slippery surfaces, which is the reason they're often found stuck in a sink.

Whilst terrible climbers, they're extraordinarily fast. They shoot away like a snake, or perhaps more fitting...a fish. I've never found one in our house before. Given that they're somewhat unwanted (they feed on paper and various other soft substances), I decided to sacrifice it.

Whilst I always struggle with handling tiny insects, this one has been the most fragile yet. It very easily loses its silvery scales upon any touch. I figured this would be an opportunity to try something I was planning for anyway. Instead of directly pinning the subject, here I placed it on black modeling clay.

Without pinning, there's less damage to the subject. And one can model the clay easily to a shape that balances and fits the subject. It's also somewhat sticky, allowing for angles and rotations that are otherwise difficult to pull off.

This species is basically only known from human settlements, it is unknown what their original natural environment is, other than the original specimen from South Africa, more than a century ago.

They are considered pest-like, yet reproduce surprisingly slow. They may live up to a stunning 8 years, and only reach sexual maturity at the age of 3. That's an extraordinarily slow life cycle for an insect.

If it is an insect at all. Currently classified as such, yet there seem to be discussions ongoing about exact placement. It is unlike most other insects for lacking wings, and it has no metamorphosis.

Here's an excellent page documenting the 3 species occurring in the Netherlands in great detail:
http://www.janvanduinen.nl/lepismatidae.php