282 WEAPONS OF DEFENCE. 



"bristling with hairs, and easily counted almost by the un- 

 assisted eye. With the help of a microscope, the observer 

 can easily distinguish the large nervure traversing them from 

 top to bottom, and communicating to the antennae their 

 characteristic sensibility and mobility. 



The brownish-coloured abdomen, composed of imbricated 

 rings, forms, in itself alone, upwards of half the body. The 

 animal can move itself in every direction; can bend and 

 twist like a young eel. To the last of its rings, which is 

 larger than the others, are attached the two curved branches 

 of the forceps (forficula). These are weapons of defence 

 rather than of attack. At the same time, they are useful as 

 a sexual distinction. The forceps of the male are strongly 

 arched, and furnished with indentations perfectly visible to 

 the naked eye (see Fig. 64, a); those of the female are 

 scarcely bent at all, and their indentations can only be seen 

 with the microscope. In numerous individuals, the last ring 

 of the abdomen is provided with four tubercles, one in each 

 side and two in the middle; but this is not a uniform 

 characteristic. 



The earwig is a trimeral insect ; that is, its tarsi are each 

 composed of three joints. Its mandibles are comparatively 

 weak. The moment you touch it, the insect raises, with 

 great quickness, the extremity of its supple body, and endea- 

 vours to defend itself with its pincers. The female lays her 

 eggs chiefly in the chinks and crannies of time-worn timber, 

 and the larvae issuing from them do not differ, in any material 

 respect, from the perfect insect. (See Fig. 64, b.) 



