86 



FAMILY I.— EARWIGS. 



The female earwig laj'S a cluster of small, oval, yellowish 

 and opaque eggs under a fallen leaf or under any other 

 shaded object, and then nestles upon it as a hen on her eggs ; 

 she also protects the young forsometime after being hatched. 



In the tropics large numbers of such insects are found ; 

 some of them are brightly colored, and decidedly ferocious in 

 appearance, especially the males, which possess formidable 

 looking forceps, those of the female being usualW smaller 

 and more simple. 



Two genera, each represented by one species, occur in our 

 state.* 



GENUS Labia Leach. 



Body small and convex ; head mod- 

 erately large; antenn£e composed of 

 from 10 to 15 joints, the sixth joint 

 being plainly obconic. Pronotum some- 

 what smaller than the head ; wing- 

 covers always present, though the 

 wings are sometimes wanting. Abdo- 

 men somewhat widened in the middle; 

 the last segment much longer than the 

 others, and armed 5\'ith a pair of for- 

 ceps, separated at the base in the males, 

 but not separated in the females. Legs 

 comparatively short ; the first joint of 

 the tarsi as long as the other two, the 

 simple and compressed second one is the 

 shortest. 



THE LITTLE EARWIG. 



{Labia minor L,mn.). 



Head and sides of abdomen nearly 



black; ' uth-parts, antennae, thorax, 



wing-covers, exposed parts of the lower 



wings, and the middle of the upper side 



Fig. 50 — Labia minor. 

 Original. 



*In studying the structure of thL' single and mutilated specimen of a second 

 genus, the former was destroyed, hence onl3' one genus could be described and 

 illustrated. More material is needed for this xiurpose. 



