INSECTS INFESTING TEE APPLE TREE. 



Ill 



CHAPTER LIV. 



The Earwig. (Cal.) 



(Fnrficula auricularia — Linnaeus.) 



Order, Orthoptera ; Family, Forficularid^. 



[Feeding upon the flowers of various plants, and also upon 

 fruits. A brownish or black six-legged insect, having a for- 

 ceps-like appendage at the hind end of the body.] 



The female Earwig deposits her eggs beneath stones, etc., 

 and — what is very unusual among insects — she broods over 

 them like a hen until they are hatched out, and afterwards 

 manifests the most lively interest for the safety of her young. 

 The latter (Fig. 87, left) closely resembles the adults, but are 

 entirely destitute of wings. (Pupa, Fig. 87, middle). 



Fig. 87. 



Fig 87. — Earwigs, enlarged — color, brown ; at the left, the 

 larva ; in the middle, the pupa ; at the right, the perfect insect, 

 with its wings expanded. 



In the adults (Fig. 87, right) the wing-cases are very short, 

 and the wings, when not in use, are folded in a very complex 

 manner, and concealed beneath them. Although these insects 

 have been reported as crawling into the ears of certain per- 

 sons, yet no authentic instance of this kind is on record. 

 These insects are sometimes quite destructive to various kinds 

 of fruit, especially such as have been injured by some other 

 insects. 



