20 BRITISH INSECTS 



The mode of folding the wings is very complicated, 

 and is well described by Mr. O. H. Latter in the 

 following passage : " The lower radiating veins first 

 come together, creasing the delicate membrane 

 between them fanwise ; a cross fold is then made 

 rather near the basal hard part, and is followed by a 

 second cross fold in the reverse direction close to 

 a line of dilated spots on the divergent veins ; a 

 contraction then occurs close to the base, so that the 

 whole folded structure is compressed, the softer parts 

 passing below the hard ; and, finally, the abdomen is 

 turned up and the nippers at its end employed to 

 push all snugly 'home.'" 1 A small portion of each 

 folded wing, however, always projects a little beyond 

 its tegmen or cover. The common earwig, being 

 mainly nocturnal in habit, is rarely seen in flight ; 

 but, by using a small camel's-hair brush and the 

 blunt end of a fine needle, the wing of a newly-dead 

 specimen can be unfolded without much difficulty. 



The male of the common earwig has nine evident 

 abdominal segments, the female only seven, though in 

 each case the actual number is ten. The forceps of 

 the sexes also differ those of the male being strongly 

 curved and toothed at their bases, while those of the 

 female are almost straight, without teeth, and cross at 

 the tips. The female has no ovipositor. She lays her 

 eggs in the soil, and watches over them until they 

 hatch, collecting them again into a heap if they should 

 chance to be scattered. It has also been stated that 

 she carries them about from one place to another in 

 order that they may be exposed constantly to the con- 

 ditions most favourable to their development, and that 

 she fosters the young during the early stages of their 

 i " Natural History of Common Animals." 



