iUN ;S7 1904 



PSYCH K. 



E.iRWIGS {ANISOLABIA MARITIMA BON.). 



FY CHARLES BARROWS BENNETT, PROVIDENCE, R. I. 



In the sumni'^r of igoi I found a place near Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y., 

 where there were many earwigs. As these insects are rather rare in New England, 

 I watched them^as iiuch as possible, and also captured several, from which others 

 were reared. 



The Eggs and Young. 



Eggs were laid mainly in the warmer months of July and August, and only a 

 very few after the middle of September. When first laid the eggs were almost two 

 millimeters (about one-sixteenth of an inch) in length, were cylindrical in form, and 

 white, and covered with an almost transparent, glossy shell. (See Figure i, e.) 

 At first the color of each egg was uniform throughout, and its shape was regular. 

 After some days the contents became separated into a clearly outlined embryo and 

 a colorless liquid. The embryo was of a crescent shape and the side of the ^gg 

 on which it was became a little larger and less regular than at first. After about 

 seventeen days — although the time varied with varying conditions of temperature, 

 humidity, etc. — the young emerged from the egg. Their length at that time was 

 seven and a half millimeters (about five-sixteenths of an inch), not including the 

 length of the antennae. (See Figure i, d.) They had, even then, forceps, or 

 nippers, shaped like those of the adult female, although, of course, much smaller in 

 size. At this stage the antennae were longer in proportion to the length of the 

 body than they were in the adult. In a few other points also the young differed 

 slightly from the adult, but for the most part they resembled them in miniature. 

 Their color when newly hatched was almost white, but soon became almost black 

 above and brownish below, the same as that of their parents. 



Growth and Development. 



I was not able to ascertain positively how many times the young earwigs shed 

 their skins ; it was probably four times. The fact that the general characteristics 

 remained the same until the last change, together with the fact that they speedily 

 devoured their own cast-off skins, made it difficult to be sure, at times, whether or 



