Country diary: the silverfish is the great survivor

Crook, Co Durham: This ancient wingless insect still resembles its 400m-year-old fossil ancestors

I almost swilled a living fossil down the plughole when I showered this morning. Overnight, the tiny silverfish, Lepisma saccharina, had tumbled into the bath, a pitfall trap whose vertical sides were too smooth for it to escape.

It's a while since I've encountered one of these ancient wingless insects, a survivor from the Devonian period that now lives among humans in the Anthropocene and still resembles its 400m-year-old fossil ancestors.