EARWIGS 203 



victim to prejudices that have very little to justify them. This 

 Insect is a good type of the winged earwigs. In the parts of 

 the mouth it exhibits the structures usual in the Orthoptera ; 

 there is a large labrum, a pair of maxillae, each provided with two 

 lobes and a palpus consisting of two very short basal joints and 

 three longer joints beyond these ; the mandibles are strong, with 

 curvate pointed extremities ; in the lower lip there is a ligula 

 exposed in front of a very large mentuni ; it consists of two 

 pieces, not joined together along the middle, but each bearing on 

 its lateral edge a palpus with two elongate joints and a short 

 basal one ; this lip is completed by the lingua, which reposes 

 on the upper face of the part, and completely overlaps and 

 protects the chink left by the want of union along the middle 

 line of the external parts of the lip. The antennae are elon- 

 gate, filiform, and are borne very near the front of the exserted 

 head. There are rather large facetted eyes, but no ocelli. The 

 three segments of the thorax are distinct, the prothorax being 

 quite free and capable of movement independent of the parts 

 behind it : the meso- and meta-nota are covered by the tegmina 

 and wings ; these latter project slightly from underneath the 

 former in the shape of small slips, that are often of rather lighter 

 colour ; the wing-covers are short, not extending beyond the 

 insertion of the hind legs, and repose fiat on the back, meeting- 

 together in a straight line along the middle. These peculiar 

 flat, abbreviated wing-covers, with small slips (which are portions 

 of the folded wings) projecting a little from underneath them, 

 are distinctive marks of the winged Forficulidae. 



The legs are inserted far from one another, the coxae being 

 small ; each sternum of the three thoracic segments projects 

 backwards, forming a peculiar long, free fold, underlapping the 

 front part of the following segment. The hind body or abdomen 

 is elongate, and is formed of ten segments ; the number readily 

 visible being two less in the female than it is in the male. 

 The segments are fitted together by a complex imbrication, 

 which admits of great mobility and distension, while offering a 

 remarkable power of resistance to external pressure : each 

 segment is inserted far forward in the interior of that preceding 

 it, and each also consists of separate upper and lower plates that 

 much overlap where they meet at the sides (see Fig. 103). The 

 body is always terminated by a pair of horny, pincer-like 



