76 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



nibbles the petals of flowers, but 

 that much of its food- -perhaps the 

 major part of it — consists of other 

 Insects. 



The common earwig and some 

 others have been noticed to give 

 out a peculiar odour at times. This 

 is, no doubt, a further protection 

 to them. It is believed to proceed 

 from openings on the back. These 

 may be seen just behind the ex- 

 tremity of the wing-covers. Apart 

 from ants, wasps, and bees, Insects 

 are not distinguished for solicitude 



their young, beyond 



lor 



making 



An Earwig's Wing 



The upper part of the photograph shows a single wing-cover, and below it 

 is the relatively enormous wing, which has to be carefully folded and packed 

 away under the cover. Enlarged about eight times. 



l)roper provision for their prospec- 

 tive wants when the eggs are de- 

 ])Osited. The female earwig, how- 

 ever, watches over her eggs and 

 covers them with her body 

 tect them, and 

 them together again when thev 



to pro- 



carefully gathers 



5V-LXXV.1 CXJ5 



have been scattered experimentally. 

 She also broods her young when they are hatched, until they are strong enough to 

 look after themselves. The eggs are laid late or early in the year, but do not hatch 



until the spring. The young are 

 V miniature replicas of their parents, 



^^ minus wings and wing-covers. The 



\ number of moults on their way to 



maturity appears to be four. The 

 full-grown females may be dis- 

 tinguished from the males at a 

 glance by noting the character 

 of the callipers : whilst strongly 

 curved in the males, in the females 

 they are almost straight. 



Our finest native earwig is the 

 shore earwig,^ which only occurs 

 sparingly on a restricted part of the 

 Hampshire coast. It is more than 

 twice the size of the common 

 species, and of a pale colour, which 

 makes it difficult to see on the sand 

 where it lix'es, sheltering under 

 small stones. It appears to bo 





Photo by] 



\H. Baslin. 



Earwigs. 

 These enlarged portraits show thi.' relative differences in size betwei-ii tli 

 common species and the small earwig (centre) ; and the contrast betwcei 

 the shape of the callipers of the male (left) and the female (right). 



> Ealiidnra 



ri])ana. 



