462 



AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



Certain earwigs possess stink-glands, which open through tuber- 

 cles situated one on each side near the hind margins of the second 

 and third visible abdominal segments, from which, it is said, they 

 can squirt a foul-smelling fluid to a 

 distance of three or four inches. 



The female earwig has smaller for- 

 ceps and but six visible abdominal 

 sterna while the male has eight. In 

 some earwigs the two efferent ducts of 

 the reproductive organs open separate- 

 ly. The metamorphosis is gradual, 

 the wings developing externally. The 

 female is said to brood over the eggs 

 but to abandon them soon after hatch- 



ing. 



ig- 5.41 



Pro- 



labia pulchella 

 burgessi, male. 

 (From Rehn 

 and Hebard.) 



Earwigs are cosmopolitan insects, 

 and are easily transported by com- 

 merce ; consequently exotic species are 

 liable to be found near seaports; and 

 some such species have become established in this 

 country. The species of the world have been mono- 

 graphed by B urr ('11). 

 Fig. _ ^^o.— Labia The order is a comparatively small one ; only about 

 minor, female, four hundred living species have been described, and 

 dom^n of the ^^^^e are mostly tropical or semitropical. The native 

 male. (From and the exotic species that have become established 

 Lugger.) in America north of Mexico number together only 



fifteen. 

 The seaside earwig, Anisoldhis mantinia. — In this species both 

 pairs of wings a-^e wanting, the antennae are 24-jointed, and the 

 length of the body is from 18 to 20 mm. This earwig is found along 

 the coast from Maine to Texas. 



The ring-legged earwig, Anisoldhis ammlipes. — This is also a 

 wingless species. The antennae are only 15- or i6-jointed, the body 

 is about 10 mm. long and the legs are ringed with fuscous. Its range 

 does not extend as far north as that of the seaside earwig, but it 

 extends farther inland. 



The little earwig. Labia minor. — In this species the body is thickly 

 clothed with fine yellowish pubescence. The body measures only 

 from 4 to 5 mm. in length. Figure 538 represents the male, and 

 Figure 540, the female. This species is widely distributed in the 

 United States and is established in Canada. 



The handsome earwig, Proldhia pulchella. — This species is widely 

 distributed over the southern United States; it is found under the 

 bark of dead trees. The body is dark chestnut-brown, shining and 

 glabrous. It measures from 6 to 6.5 mm. in length. This species is 

 dimorphic; in one form, known as burgsssi (Fig. J41), the hind wings 

 are shorter than the tegmina. 



