EARWIGS (FOEFICULIDiE). 281 



The young are at first white, but become brown in a week, and 

 have no signs of wings, but by degrees after several moults the 

 wings appear. The common earwig (Forflcula aurirularia) be- 

 comes mature in July and August. Earwigs are mostly dark 

 chestnut-brown or yellowish in colour, -with dark eyes. The 

 upper wings are very small, but the under pair are large, fan- 

 shaped, membranous expansions, folded up in a most remark- 

 able way beneath the small scale-like upper ones. This species 

 seldom uses its wings, although I have taken them on the 

 wing.-' The small Earwigs (Labia minor), on the other hand, 

 fly about in the sunshine. Forfiada auricula.ria feeds only of 

 a night, and hides away beneath the earth and stones during 

 the daytime and under the bark of trees, &c. They strip the 

 blossoms of plants, and have now and again done much damage 

 to hops. 



Prevention and Remedies. — Trapping is the best way to get 

 rid of these pests. Heaps of straw put about in the hop- 

 gardens and fields, and burnt in the daytime, will get rid of 

 hundreds. Pieces of sacking laid about on the ground will be 

 found to entice great numbers. In Germany old baskets are 

 put up on sticks full of some rubbish to attract the earwigs, 

 and then destroyed. During an attack on the South-Eastern 

 Agricultural College hops in 1896, soot placed round the 

 hills was found most efficacious, driving the pests away and 

 enabling the hops to recover from their damage. Catching 

 over tarred boards of a night is also an excellent way in hop 

 infestation. 



Cockroaches (BLATTiDis). 



Several so-called "Black-beetles" are found in England, 

 and are often destructive. The three commonest species are 

 the Common Black Beetle (Blatta oi'ientalis), which is dark 



1 Ento. Mo. Mag., p. 61, 1896. 



