168 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



cc. Head sub-hoiizoiital; mouth sub-inferior. Ocelli often 

 wanting. Anteun:o generally longer than the body. 

 Pronotum but little longer than head. Front pair of 

 legs simple. Cerci without joints I'iiasmid.!-:. p. 2()o 



Family FORFICULlDyE. 



This family of the order Orthoptera comprises those short, narrow, 

 flattened insects, with legs of equal size, commonly known as "ear- 

 wigs." They are so dili'erent from the larger and better known Or- 

 thoptera that many writers have placed them in a distinct order, the 

 Dermaptera or Euplexoptera. 



The Forficulidce have the head flattened and horizontal with the 

 mouth in front. The thorax is short and narrower than the head. 

 The tegmina or wing covers are leathery or horny in texture, meet in 

 a straight line down the back; arc without veins and cover only a por- 

 tion of the abdomen. The inner wings, when present, are very large, 

 and bear numerous radiating vei"ns which act as the bars of a fan in 

 folding and unfolding the wings. When at rest, these wings are folded 

 both lengthwise and crosswise beneath the protecting tegmina. The 

 abdomen ends in a pair of appendages which somewhat resemble for- 

 ceps. Were it not for these, the earwigs would resemble very closely 

 the Siaphylinidce or rove beetles of the order Coleoptera. Those spe- 

 cies which possess inner wings use these forceps to aid in folding and 

 unfolding those organs, and they are also used as clasping organs 

 during the mating of the sexes. As the earwigs never leap, their 

 hind femora are not enlarged. The tarsi are never more than three- 

 jointed and have no pads between the claws. Xo organs for produc-- 

 ing sound are present, and, as far as known, hearing organs are also 

 absent. 



The nam.e "earwig" was given to these insects in Europe, where 

 they are abundant and better known than in this country. It is a 

 common belief among peasants and the uneducated masses, that these 

 insects will, wlien opportunity oft'ers, enter the ears of human beings 

 and injure the sense of hearing. Such belief is, of course, wrong and 

 nonsensical, the insects being wholly liannless. Like the members 

 of the next family, the Blaitidw or cockroaches, they live in cracks 

 and crannies in walls and floors, beneath rubbish and the bark of logs 

 and stumps. From these retreats they come I'orlli oidy by night to 

 feed upon dead insects and u])on small snails and other sluggish mov- 

 ing forms. Like other nocturnal insects they are attracted by light, 

 and on the ground beneath the electric lights of cities in Florida and 

 Old ]\Iexieo. I have found them in numbers. The female is said to 



