BRITISH INSECTS 



is one of the most interesting maternal instincts to wit- 

 ness this solicitude of the Earwig for her young, espe- 

 cially in this great world of insect-life where the inex- 

 perienced person would least expect to find it. The 

 Earwig, too, is notorious because of its supposed habit 

 of creeping into the human ear, and the formidable use 

 to which it is said to put its fearsome-looking forceps. 

 Let it be said that this insect is far too particular as to 

 its retreat to allow itself, unless by accident or unforseen 

 circumstance, to enter one's ear, and the scorpion-like 

 act of turning up its " tail," as if to strike or nip, is 

 only carried out so as to enable the creature to fold away 

 its small, delicate wings. Some species of Earwigs 

 do not have wings, but our familiar garden tenant has 

 these appendages, the front pair, as a rule, being modi- 

 fied into elytra, or wing-cases, leathery in texture, and 

 the softer hind pair being folded beneath, or just over- 

 lapping, the former. The name Earwig should, as a 

 matter of fact, be Earwing, and it was so-called in days 

 gone by because of the resemblance of the shape of the 

 wing to our own aural orifice. The small spherical 

 eggs are semi-transparent, and of hard texture. Bein 

 so small, they are rarely discovered, but they may be 

 found in little groups buried beneath the ground or 

 under a stone. Most Earwigs are brown, red, or yellow 

 in colour, our own common species having, as is well 

 known, a coat of mail of the former when in the adult 

 state. During its transformation stage, it is first white, 

 then perhaps piebald, as the stronger colour appears 

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