1104 Marvels of the Universe 
were easily recognized at six hundred and fifty-two to six hundred and sixty feet, showing 
the characteristic cell-structure beautifully preserved, and similar to the magnified figure given 
on page II07. 
EARWIGS : HOW THEY OPEN AND CLOSE THEIR WINGS 
BY FRED ENOCK, F.L.S. 
Can anyone be so far gone in his love for insects as to sing the praises of Earwigs ? Those “‘ horrid 
Earwigs,” that, according to those wonderful repositories of facts the oldest inhabitants, walk into 
our bedroom in broad daylight, and when we are wrapt in sweet slumber, creep over our beds and 
into our ears, and endeavour to find a way to our brain ! Speaking from personal experience, I have, 
when beating foliage for larve, frequently had 
all kinds of insects, including Earwigs, fall on 
my neck and face, and as hurriedly endeavour 
to find cover. Those that are active flyers, 
soon spread their wings, but spiders are more 
deliberate in their actions, and attempt to 
make snares around one’s head. It is astonish- 
ing how soon we can recognize the tread of a 
spider, or an insect, and how deliberately a 
looper caterpillar seems to walk round one’s 
neck, measuring its paces until a sudden move- 
ment of the head causes it to drop down 
somewhere between our shirt-collar and collar- 
bone. 
At such a time there is no mistaking the 
subject of our notes, the Earwig, for it drops 
down rather heavily, and, being of a some- 
what retiring nature, it quickly endeavours to 
hide itself, either in the deep recesses of our 
flannels—up our sleeves, and not infrequently 
it falls upon our ears, and—creeps in—and 
out again. It wants to hide, so takes the 
LE cin a; Baia, first chance that offers, ears, collar or shirt- 
ANT-NEST BEETLE. sleeves. 
Clythra, a beetle with wing-covers spotted much like those R : . 
of a Lady-bird, lays its eggs in the nest of the Wood Ant, and As usual, there has been considerable dis- 
the young pass their grub and chrysalis stages therein. cussion among philologists as to which should 
be its right name, Earwg or Earwing. To many it will be news that these insects have wings ; for 
the organs of flight are not seen except by those who study and search out the marvels of insect life ; 
but when fully expanded, the Earwig’s wings resemble in form the lobe of our own ears. 
Sometimes there is no accounting for an insect’s name. Some years ago, when in the North of 
England, I learned that the local name for an Earwig was a ‘“‘ Worzlebug”’! It is a well-known fact 
that in the United States of America all insects are called “‘ Bugs.” 
It is always a pleasure to speak well of much-maligned insects, but few will be inclined to give 
any credit to an Earwig—which every gardener knows eats out his chrysanthemum buds, nibbles the 
petals of his favourite phloxes, and takes up apartments in every petal of his dahlias. We are bound 
to admit that Earwigs do all the damage put down to their account, but they also help to keep down 
green fly, as I can testify, for I have often, when preparing an Earwig for microscopic examination, 
found its viscera full of the remains of hundreds of green flies. 
