CHAPTER XIX 

 ORDER DERMAPTERA* 



The Earwigs 



The winged members of this order usually have four wings; but in some 

 of them the hind icings are -vestigial or wanting; the fore wings are leathery, 

 very small, without veins, and when at rest meet in a straight line on the 

 back; the hind wings, when well developed, are large, with radiating veins, 

 and when at rest are folded both lengthwise and crosswise. The mouth- 

 parts are formed for chewing. The caudal end of the body is furnished with 

 a pair of appendages, the cerci, which resemble forceps. The metamorphosis 

 is incomplete. 



These are long, narrow-bodied insects with short, 

 thickened fore wings which, when at rest, meet in a 

 straight line on the back (Fig. 207). They Can be 

 distinguished from beetles by the pair of forceps-like 

 appendages, the cerci, at the caudal end of the body. 

 The common name, earwig, was given these in- 

 sects in England, and has reference to a widely 

 spread fancy that these insects creep into the ears 

 of sleeping persons. The earwigs are more common 

 in this country in the South and on the Pacific Coast. 

 They are nocturnal in habits and feed on flowers, 

 fruits and vegetables and some species feed on ani- 

 mal matter, especially dead 

 insects. 



The fore wings resemble 

 the elytra of beetles but the 

 hind wings are very different 

 from those of any other in- 

 sects. Figure 208 represents one of these; 

 are furnished with radiating veins which extend 

 from a point some distance from the base of the wings. When the wing is 

 not in use that part over which these veins extend is folded in plaits like a 

 fan, after which the wing is folded twice crosswise. 



The most distinctive feature of the earwigs is the form of the cerci 

 which are forceps-like and usually prominent. They are usually larger 

 in the male than in the female. 



There are only about fifteen known species of earwigs in America 

 north of Mexico and some of these are exotic forms which have come 

 into the country through the channels of commerce. 



The little earwig, Labia minor, is only about \ of an inch long but it 

 is widely distributed in the United States and has become established in 

 Canada (Fig. 207). 



* Dermaptera: derma (Stpua), skin; pteron (irrepov), a wing. 

 125 



Fig. 207. — An 

 wig, Labia minor. 



Fig. 208. — Wing of earwig. 



they 



