BRITISH OKTHOPTERA. 



side of the box in which it was confined, they remained 

 a short time their full length over the back of the 

 abdomen, and, while I was watching for the forceps 

 to come into use they were quickly drawn up under 

 the elytra. Further observation revealed the modus 



/ 



operandi. The forceps were not used at all, but the 

 femora of the mid-legs were raised so that the knees 

 touched the hinge- joints of the costal nervures, this 

 allowing them to bend, the wings folding automatically 

 as they were drawn over the back and under the elytra. 

 The wings were not seized by the forceps and by them 

 tucked away ; the insect can and does secure its wings 

 properly without their aid. After watching for a long 

 time I most positively affirm that in no instance were 

 the forceps used. Indeed, if, as Wood says, the primary 

 use of the forceps is to pack the wings under the 

 elytra, what, one may ask, can be their purpose amongst 

 the apterous species ? ' As to this Burr says that 

 about half the known species of earwigs are incapable 

 of flight.* Here the matter must be left at present. 



On 14 July 1907 I caught a female on my umbrella, 

 and the pale segments at the tip of the antennas were 

 very noticeable when the insect moved. 



L. minor sometimes swarms in the sunshine over old 

 dung-heaps and so forth. It may also be taken in 

 market-gardens, where there is a range of forcing- 

 lights over manure : it may then be found crawling- 

 under the glass. R. McLachlan once statedf that on 

 passing a stable, with dung-hill, etc., at the exit of the 

 railway-station at Lewisham, one of the sultry after- 

 noons in the last week of September 1903, he saw 

 quite a swarm of flying insects, which he took to be 

 winged ants ; but, on catching one in his hat, he found 

 them to be Labia minor. It is usually common enough, 

 he ,says, about roadside dung-heaps around London in 

 the summer and ordinarily lasts only a short time on 

 the win of ; but never before had he seen it so late. 



o ~ 



* In litt. 14 Nov. 1904. 



t ' Ent. Mo. Mag.' 1903, p. 285. 



