THE COMMON EARWIG. 265 



both the female and her eggs, placed her in a box 

 half filled with fresh earth, and dispersed the eggs 

 up and down in it. She, however, soon removed 

 them, one after another, carrying them between her 

 jaws, and, at the end of a few days, he saw that she 

 had collected them all into one place upon the sur- 

 face of the earth, and remained constantly on the 

 heap, without quitting it for a moment, so that she 

 seemed truly to sit for the purpose of hatching her 

 eggs. The young were produced about the thir- 

 teenth of May : in figure they were similar to those 

 before mentioned, but at their birth they were all 

 white except towards the tail, where a yellow mat- 

 ter was observable through the skin, and the eyes 

 and teeth, which were reddish. He kept them in 

 the box with their mother, feeding them from time 

 to time with bits of apple, and saw them grow 

 every day, and change their skins more than once. 

 The mother died, and her progeny devoured nearly 

 the whole of her body. The little ones that died 

 underwent also the same fate : M. de Geer, how- 

 ever, conjectures that this took place only from 

 want of other food, as he had neglected to supply 

 them regularly with nutriment On the twenty- 

 third of July one only remained alive ; it was full 

 grown, and then in the nymph or pupa state. 



This insect, though in its nature extremely harm- 

 less, except in our gardens to our fruits and vegeta- 

 bles, has fallen, in a very particular manner, a victim 

 to human cruelty and caprice, originating in the 

 idea that it introduces itself into the ears, and from 

 thence penetrates to the brain, and occasions death. 



