DEEMAPTERA, 



The literature dealing with tlie Dermapterous Pauna of British 

 India IS not very extensive. In general books upon Dermaptera 

 and Orthoptera there are occasional references to Indian species 

 and Indian localities, such as may be found in the M'orks of 

 berville, Do hrn, and de Bormans. The first paper deahnj? ex- 

 dusive ly with Indian Earwigs was de Bornians' ' first account of 

 the collections uiade by Leonardo Tea in Bui-ma, pu Wished in 

 the Annah del Museo Civico di Genova ' in 1888, followed six 

 years later by his second paper (1894), in which he incorporated 

 the first, and added a number of species, many of which Mere 

 new In 1897 Bolivar described an extensive collection of 

 Orthoptera from Trichmopoli, in which several species of earxviffs 

 are recorded, three being new. ^ 



But these works, valuable as they are, give little assistance for 

 the determination of species. The first paper which enabled an 

 entomologist m India to determine the species was the account 

 of the earwigs of Ceylon by the author of the present work, 

 published m the ' Transactions of the Bombay Natural History 

 bociety'm 1902 based almost entirely upon material obtained 



lu cf- \'T'^ ^' ^'''^"- '^^''' P^^Pe^' however, dealt only 

 with Singhalese species, and is now out of date. In 1905 the 

 present writer published a first list of the earwigs in the collection 

 of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, followed in 1906 and 1907 

 by two more, chiefly based on material obtained by Dr. Nelson 

 Annandale. These three papers, however, contain little beyond 

 hsts of names and localities, and are of no use for purposes of 

 Klentilieation, except where new species are described. 



In these circumstances it is evident that there is a real need for 

 a work by the help of which entomologists in India may be 

 able to determine such collections of earwigs as they may make 

 It IS hoped that by its means collectors in India may be encourao-ed 

 to take an interest in a group of insects which is by no means 

 Jacking m fascination, and which has the undeniable advantage 

 of being so neg ected that it offers scope and encouragement to 

 all students. The need of such a work is further made evident by 

 the following pages, in which it will be noticed there are frequent 

 appeals for further material, and there remain still several species 

 the exact position of which is doubtful. This is especially the 



1 Full references to these works are giyen iu the Bibliography on p. 26. 



