So I woke up in the middle of the night because I was thirsty, go into my kitchen turn on the light and discover this (to me) never before seen species of insect crawl up from the drain.



What am I looking at? What are those curious long appendages sticking out everywhere? The main body is roughly 2cm in length.

Looks like a silverfish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

Admittedly, they are quite confronting, when seen for the first time.

What's an "entymologist'?

Somebody who's bugged by words? Somebody who studies the relations between trees?

You've never seen a silverfish before? Thats nuts. I thought everyone had. They eat books and bread and like moisture.

The appendages at the end of its abdomen are two cerci and a terminal filament. The cerci are sensory or copulatory, I think. The terminal filament enables them to leap and flip about. Foul little beasties.

Fascinating. I don't remember having seen them before. They've never crawled out of my sink when I was around to see it.

It's a "KILL IT!"

Probably Lepisma saccharina, which has been accompanying humans for thousands of years. Though in North America, you have other species to look out for that sometimes occur in human habitations.