OCTOBEE 1, 1891.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



183 



along the lines of the radiating nervures, all these little 

 leathery spots are brought up side by side, and the whole 

 collection is then beut across at this spot, thereby reducing 

 the membrane to half its length. A transverse nervure 

 running parallel to the hind margin, but nearer to the line 

 of bending than to it, serves to give stability to the wing 

 when fully expanded. The rays are the divisions of the 

 anal nervure, the area of v/hich in most insects forms only 

 a small part of the wing nearest the body, but in the 

 Earwig has so far expanded and encroached as to con- 

 stitute almost the whole wing. 



The wing readily closes of its own accord at the trans- 

 verse bends, in virtue of its own elasticity ; but obviously 

 this must be overcome in opening by some external force, 

 and it is just here that the forceps at the end of the body 

 come in usefully. The Earwig is said to use its forceps to 

 aid the operation, turning them over its back to do so. 

 There is great difficulty in verifying this statement, owing 

 to the nocturnal habits of the creature and its general dis- 

 inclination to use its wings. If the wings are opened 

 artificially, the Earwig will often go for hours without 

 closing them, and then when it finally does so, probably 

 the experimenter is absent. It is said also to use the 

 forceps in closing the wings, thougli from the nature of 

 things it would seem that they would be less requii'ed then. 

 There are some foreign species whose forceps are as long 

 as the body, and it is difficult to see how these can make 

 such a use of their exaggerated tail appendages. The 

 forceps are of course weapons of offence and defence as 

 well, and are probably quite as effectual by giving a terrify- 

 ing appearance to the insect as by being actually used for 

 pinching. 



The Earwig is one of those insects whose metamorphosis 

 is incomplete, lilse the cockroach, cricket, and bed-bug. 

 The eggs are little oval yellow things; they may sometimes 

 be found under stones, &c. De Geer has left an account 

 of a mother Earwig which he found with a batch of eggs, 

 which implies that these insects, contrary to the general 

 practice, show maternal solicitude. He placed the eggs in 

 a jar, scattering them over the surface of some earth it 

 contained, and then put the mother in. She immediately 

 set to work picking up the eggs with her jaws, and 

 conveyed them all to the same spot, where she remained 

 jealously guarding her treasure till the young were hatched. 

 And even then the cares of maternity were not over, for 

 the young ones clustered round their mother, running in 

 and out between her legs and under her body, like chickens 

 under the mother hen. When first hatched, the young 

 are quite white, except for the eyes and jaws, which are 

 reddish. They soon darken, however, into a tolerably 

 uniform pale brown. They are very similar in shape to 

 the adult, but have no wings or wing-covers, while their 

 antenn.e also have fewer joints, and their forceps are more 

 simple in form. After several moults, each accompanied 

 by an increase in size and a darkening in colour, they 

 appear, like the cockroaches and crickets, witli the outline 

 of wings sculptured on the thorax ; in this -form they are 

 called nymphs or pupa;. The next moult yields tlie perfect 

 and mature insect, with the full number of joints to the 

 antenniu, wings, wing-covers, and forceps all perfect, and 

 the sexual organs fully dov,k)j)ed. At each moult the 

 insect is soft and white immediately after casting the skin, 

 but gradually becomes harder and darker by exposure. 



Earwigs are extremely voracious ; they are chiefly 

 vegetable feeders, and are especially fond of the corollas 

 of flowers, so that they arc a great annoyance to gardeners 

 by nibbling the flowers and thus spoiling their symmetry. 

 Their method of procedure can be easily waU-hed bj 

 gutting a few specimens in a glass jar and supplymg them 



with flowers such as the garden nasturtiums (tropaeolums). 

 The jaws work in the same wa}' as those of cockroaches, the 

 palpi being in incessant motion all the time. Earwigs can 

 run up and down the perpendicular sides even of a glass 

 jar with perfect ease, an accomplishment very essential to 

 their well-being, as their favourite food so often lies up 

 on the end of a tall stalk. Hence, one can account for 

 their presence in sunflowers and other tall flowers, without 

 assuming that they have flown thither. They habitually 

 rest with legs widely spread out, and this, no doubt, helps 

 to give them a firm foothold. On the other hand, 

 however, as everybody knows, they are extremely ready to 

 relax their hold ana drop at once to the groimd, if dis- 

 turbed. They are fond of the darkness, and it would almost 

 seem as though light were painful to their eyes, for they 

 habitually endeavour, when disturbed in the daytime, 

 to poke their heads into some obscure corner. 



Earwigs, although they make a good deal of mess in 

 the places they frequent, by the abundant accumulation 

 of their excrement, are yet not in themselves of uncleanly 

 habits, but are in person usually scrupulously clean. If 

 watched for a little while they will be seen cleaning them- 

 selves as a cat would do, putting the forefoot up to the 

 mouth and then rubbing it round the head ; the hiud foot 

 will also sometimes be bent roimd underneath and brought 

 up to the mouth in the same way, just as we described in 

 the case of the Book-louse, and after some ti-emulous 

 movements with the jaws and j)alpi, it will be stroked 

 down the back several times, evidently with the intention 

 of removing particles of dust, &c. There is a surprising 

 air of intelligence about them as they perform their ablu- 

 tions, and a steady, business-like application to the work, 

 which is highly amusing. A similar appearance of a 

 power of resource and vigour of purpose are often to be 

 seen while they are feeding, especially when an Earwig, 

 reaching up to a flower above its head and almost too high 

 for it, gives it little tugs with a jerk of the head, like a 

 horse pulling hay out of a rack. 



(To be continued.) 



INTERNATIONAL YACHTING. 



13y RicH.vKD Bey.no.n, F.ll.G.S. 



THE ascendancy of Great Britain over the other 

 maritime nations of the world, in the size and 

 number of her merchant vessels and the skill of 

 her shipbuilders, is undoubted. There is one 

 department of our marine, however, in which the 

 place of supremacy is very closely contested by other 

 countries, liritish yachts are not allowed to retain a 

 position of pre-eminence among the pleasure craft of the 

 world without encountering the powerful rivalry, first of 

 the United States, and secondly of France. In discussing 

 the subject of International Yachting it would be well to 

 consider first the difi'erent types of yachts obtaining in the 

 Eastern and Western Hemispheres. It must be remembered 

 that the law of the sur\ival of the fittest holds good in 

 yachting, and the kinds of boats used in English and 

 American waters arc those which are best adapted for the 

 special conditions of water and weather thej" have to 

 encounter. In the United States, yachting is chiefly pro- 

 secuted along the Atlantic seaboard, and as the prevailing 

 winds are westerly, it follows that Americans have the 

 shelter of their eastern coast line to shield them from 

 high westerly winds, and to ensure them comparative calm 

 water for their sport. In England it is very different ; the 

 south and west coasts are those most affected by yachts- 



