So what about their name? It’s pretty odd, isn’t it? It comes from a very old myth in which they are believed to enter the ear canals of sleeping humans and bore into the brain in order to lay their eggs. Of course this is pure nonsense, but if they don’t lay eggs there, where do they lay them?
Earwigs exhibit a high level of maternal care, which is very unusual in the insect realm. Their eggs are laid during the spring and fall in a small moist chamber below the ground where their mother guards them until they hatch. She’ll even groom the eggs in order to keep fungus from growing on them. Once the tiny babies hatch, she’ll continue doting on them through their first couple molts. After that they are big enough to go on foraging “excursions” at night with their mother, and she makes absolutely certain no one gets left behind. :)
This may seem a little far-fetched to you, but I believe it because I once turned over a board outside and found about fifty young earwigs scattering everywhere. In the middle was their mother, and she spun around in every direction trying to keep tabs on all her youngsters (an impossible task.)
The most common earwig species in the United States is Forficula auricularia, or in their common name, the European Earwig. They are not native here, but they are the ones that exhibit the maternal care I described above. They are not the only non-native earwig species in the U.S. though. Out of the 22 species we have, 12 have been introduced from other countries.
Telling male and female F. auricularia apart is very simple. Males have wide “pinchers,” (technically called cerci), and the females have rather straight, shorter ones.
Another interesting, little-known fact about earwigs is that they can fly. They don’t fly very often, but they are capable of it! Click here for a picture of their wings.
I hope you found this blog post interesting. Comment if you have something to say! Don’t be shy. ;)