EARWIG. 1 1 1 



sary to confute the commonly received opinion 

 that the Earwig- is an " impennous insect." 



The female Earwig deposits her eggs, which 

 arc rather large for the size of the animal, of a 

 white colour, and of an oval shape, under stones 

 or in any damp situation, where they may be 

 secure from too much heat or drought. From 

 these eggs are hatched the young larva?, which 

 are at first very small, but have very much the 

 general aspect of the parent animal, except that 

 they are of a white or whitish colour, and that 

 the limbs of the forceps at the tip of the abdomen 

 are not yet curved inwards. The parent insect, 

 according to the observations of Degeer, guards, 

 and broods over her young nearly in the same 

 manner as a hen does over her chickens - 3 and 

 they generally remain close to the sides, or under 

 the abdomen of the parent for several hours in 

 the day. They change their skin at certain inter- 

 vals during the earlier stages of their growth; and 

 after each change acquire a darker colour and a 

 greater degree of resemblance to the full-grown 

 insect; till at length the wing-sheaths and wings 

 are formed, and the animals may be considered as 

 perfect. 



The usual food of the earwig consists of decayed 

 fruit, and other vegetable substances, and it does 

 not seem to be naturally carnivorous, though, if 

 kept without proper nourishment, it will, like 

 many other animals, occasionally attack and de* 

 vour even its own species, 



