166 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 



Petersburg have been so infested with them, that it 

 has actually been necessary to burn them down, in or- 

 der to get rid of these noxious insects. 



Ear-tvigs. Forficula. 



The Common Ear-wig, Forficula Auricularia, is about 

 one inch long, and has yellowish legs and a brown body. 

 Its upper wings are very short, but the under ones are 

 as long as the whole body, and will expand like those 

 of a Butterfly, making it seem almost impossible that 

 they can be so folded up as to have room enough un- 

 der their short wing-covers. 



These little animals present one very extraordinary 

 phenomenon among insects ; they are not only ovipa- 

 rous, but they bring forth their young by incubation ; 

 and during the month of April, the females may al- 

 ready be found under stones, sitting upon their eggs 

 like a hen. The young are hatched like chickens, and 

 in the month of June, may be found with their mother, 

 resembling her entirely, with exception of the wings. 



It has long been a prevalent popular superstition, 

 that the Ear-wig creeps through the ear into the brain 

 of sleeping persons, and thus occasions their death. 

 But tin instance of the kind has never come to light,. 

 and we can easily believe it impossible, as their jaws 

 and abdominal pinchers are not strong enough to ad- 



