94 THE COCKROACH [CH. Ill 



Common earwigs live mostly on decaying vegetable 

 matter but also eat petals of flowers, leaves, ripe fruit and 

 similar substances ; they come in swarms to " sugar " placed 

 on trees for the purpose of catching moths. The female 

 watches over her eggs and offspring for some time; the 

 eggs are deposited underground and hatched in early spring, 

 and full growth is attained in about three months' time. 

 The nippers of the female are weak and nearly straight, 

 those of the male are sharply curved and far stronger; 

 the use of these organs is not fully understood, though 

 it is known and can, with some patience, be observed that 

 they are used in neatly disposing the flight-wings beneath 

 the wing-covers. They are undoubtedly used defensively 

 if an earwig be picked up, but the pinch given is so feeble 

 that it is difficult to imagine that they are of any real 

 value in this respect ; I have seen an earwig use its 

 nippers vigorously but to no purpose in vainly resisting 

 an attacking wasp. It seems probable that they may 

 play an important part in sexual union. An analogous, 

 though very differently situated apparatus, is found in the 

 male stag-beetle; here the mandibles are modified to 

 formidable looking pincers which however are not capable 

 of inflicting a severe wound on the finger, but are used, 

 as I have witnessed, to hold the female during sexual 

 union; they also gave a terrifying aspect to the insect 

 sufficient to deter some enemies. 



Of the ten species of Blattodea that have occurred in Britain 

 only three are truly indigenous ; the remainder, including the 

 cockroach (Bl. orientalis), having been imported, probably by 

 shipping. The three indigenous species all belong to the genus 

 Ectobia ; they are much smaller than the cockroach and do 

 not frequent our dwellings. (1) E. lapponica has the dorsal 



