Earwig (Dermaptera lat.) belongs to the order Leatheroptera, insects with incomplete metamorphosis (absence of the pupal stage in insects). This is a small insect about 2-3 centimeters long, brown in color. The insect got its name from its tail with two claws (toothed forceps) at the end.
The shape of the tail resembles a cosmetologist's tongs, with which women's ears were pierced. It has a pair of short wings, but flies extremely rarely. The head contains eyes, mustache and powerful jaws. The earwig is afraid of daylight and is nocturnal.
Photos of earwigs:
Reproduction
Fertilization of the two-east usually occurs in late summer.
Fertilized females overwinter in the soil in pre-prepared nests. Egg laying usually occurs in the spring, but sometimes in the fall, in which case the female overwinters in the nest along with the laid eggs.
The male is also in the same nest with the female, but rarely survives until spring.
Having laid eggs (one clutch contains from 40 to 100 eggs), the female is constantly close to the future offspring, protecting the eggs from the encroachments of uninvited guests throughout the period of their maturation until the appearance of the larvae.
Larvae differ from adults in the size of their body and the absence of wings. A gradual transformation occurs as the earwig molts until it becomes an adult insect.
Representatives of earwigs
There are about one and a half thousand species of this insect all over the world.
Here are just a few of them:
- Common earwig.
It reaches a length of 1.5-2 cm, has a dark brown color and highly developed muscles. Skillfully uses pincers, is able to capture and hold prey with them, and also defends itself like a spear.
It is predominantly nocturnal, hiding during the day and foraging for food at night. The diet depends on the habitat: plant foods, wood fungi, small insects.
- Coastal earwig.
Distributed throughout the world and lives in a wide variety of climates and natural areas. Important has a soil type - sandy and supersandy soils along the banks of rivers, lakes and seas, as well as in forest belts.
- Asian earwig.
It is distinguished by its bright color - black with yellow spots in the area of the elytra. It has strongly curved pincers and is diurnal.
As the name suggests, it lives in Asian regions. Can migrate by flying. At low speeds, the altitude of movement can be up to 100 meters, the duration of such mass flights is two weeks.
- Central Asian earwig.
The species, which has completely lost its wings, lives high in the mountains, in the forests of the subalpine zone.
- Guinea cave earwig.
It differs from other species due to the specifics of its habitat. Lives in caves, where it is completely deprived of sunlight. As a result, there is practically no vision, the limbs and antennae are greatly elongated, and the pigmentation of the outer integument is very pale.
- Arixenia.
- Gemimera.
Common earwig
Coastal earwig
Lesser earwig.
The smallest representative of this family. Distributed everywhere, does not exceed 6.5 mm in length. A distinctive feature is that it leads a diurnal lifestyle.
Lesser earwig
Asian earwig
Central Asian earwig
Nutrition
These insects are unpretentious and omnivorous. Favorite foods are fruits, vegetables, plants, especially garden flowers.
They do not disdain the remains of small insects. Often, in search of food, they can crawl into a residential building, where they feed on food scraps from the table and destroy houseplants, can crawl into the wardrobe and damage clothing.
Earwigs do not like daylight and crawl out in search of food at night. During the day they gather in a group under the bark of trees, in the cracks of boards, under stones, preferring dark and damp shelters.
You can find them in houses in bathrooms, toilets, basements.
Is it dangerous for humans?
Earwig: why is it dangerous to humans? All chilling stories about the insidiousness of the two-tailed bug, which can destroy a person by penetrating his ear and damaging his brain, are nothing more than fiction.
Of course, she can crawl into the ear of some summer resident if he suddenly wants to take a nap right on the ground. What happens if an earwig gets into your ear? The insect does not pose any danger to the ear and brain.
In this case, you should not panic, but, if possible, immediately consult a doctor and he will remove the unfortunate bug from the outside.
IMPORTANT! The earwig is not poisonous. It is impossible to die from its bite. An insect can only bite in defense if it suddenly sees you as a source of danger. The bite site may turn red, in which case the skin must be treated with an antiseptic.
Harm and benefits of earwigs
these small insects cause considerable damage to gardens, orchards, and apiaries, feeding on plants, fruits, berries and flower petals (roses and dahlias especially suffer from them). Destroy bees in hives. At large cluster young seedlings on the site can be completely chewed off.
IMPORTANT! When fertilizing the soil in the greenhouse with humus, be careful not to introduce earwigs with it, you may lose the entire harvest.
During dry seasons, doubletails cause serious damage to fruit trees, gnawing off the tips of leaves and undermining their roots.
CAREFULLY! Place baits in places inaccessible to children and animals.
That's all the information you need about all the advantages and disadvantages of earwigs. The appearance of this insect is quite unpleasant, which may be why there are so many terrible rumors about earwigs.
Here's a video about an earwig invasion:
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The earwig (order Earwig - Dermapetra) is an insect that belongs to the order Leatherwings. Often lives in areas where the agricultural industry is well developed. Can cause harm to garden and agricultural crops.
What does it look like
The body is flat, elongated from 4 to 40 mm, very flexible, the end of the abdomen is pincers (long chitinized processes). Males' ticks are much stronger than those of females. Various representatives order of earwigs, usually have different mite sizes from each other. Their function is primarily for defense and use in attack. In a defensive position, the earwig arches strongly and seems to point its pincers forward.
The head is heart-shaped; oral apparatus chewing appearance, directed forward; has thread-like antennae; Earwig species differ different quantities antennal segments, their number ranges from 8 to 50.
The outer cover of the body is a shell, very durable and dense.
A pair of front wings are dense, leathery elytra; wide hind wings – softer in structure, membranous, opening in the shape of a fan.
It got its name thanks to the myth that it supposedly crawls into a house at night and gets into a sleeping person’s ear. But this remains only a myth, since only the search for food can force an insect into the house.
Type of development
Like many representatives of the order of earwigs, according to the type of development it belongs to insects with incomplete metamorphosis.
Typically, the female earwig lays eggs in early autumn, in a nest previously designated for this purpose. The period of complete development of eggs is usually about 6 weeks, during which the female protects them from attacks by enemies. Some time after the larvae hatch from eggs, they are already completely similar to adult individuals, only differing in size. Small individuals do not yet have wings; their gradual growth occurs as they molt.
Earwigs in nature
If we talk about the importance of earwigs in nature, we can summarize the above: the order of earwigs belongs to insects that lead a secretive existence. Active life occurs at night, in daytime They are increasingly hiding in hiding places; stones and tree bark serve as shelter for them. They mainly feed on a variety of plant foods, but there are some species that feed on small insects.
Some earwigs choose a place to live close to humans; their “home” is basements or hollow trees in the garden.
There are often cases when insects cause harm in beekeeping. Climbing into the hive, the earwig can live for quite a long time in the community of bees; the local climate suits it: warm and humid. It is harmful because it feeds on honey, beebread and the bees themselves.
May cause harm by eating foliage, plant shoots, and other crops; damages vegetables in cellars.
It should be noted that there is a certain benefit: while in the garden or vegetable garden, the earwig destroys such pests as aphids.
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Species of earwigs
There are about 1,300 species of earwigs in the modern fauna. The most favorable climate for these insects is tropical: rich forest, warm air combined with pleasant moisture - the best place for their existence and reproduction.
Types of earwigs that live in the area former countries The USSR is not so rich in varieties, there are only 26 of them.
Most widely known species(order earwig): common, coastal, small, Asian, Central Asian, Guinean cave, Arixenia, Hemimerid.
The body length is about 15-20 mm, the color is dark brown (with reddish tints), it is distinguished by highly developed muscles that are responsible for the movement of ticks. She handles them so skillfully that she can use them both to capture and hold prey, and defend herself like a spear.
During the day it usually hides under stones, in old stumps or under a layer of tree bark. It is more active at night to search for food. The nutrition of the earwig depends on its habitat, the composition is quite diverse: plant food (leaves, young shoots, flowers, cereals, garden crops), fungi that develop under the bark of trees and even a variety of small insects.
Coastal earwig. This species is distributed almost throughout the world. It can live both in desert areas and in forest zones, along the shores of lakes, seas and rivers, provided there is a certain type of soil (sandy and sandy loam).
Lesser earwig. Its representatives are also widely represented in every corner of the world. Probably the smallest species of our fauna. The length of its body is only from 4 to 6.5 mm. Her distinctive feature– display of activity during the day.
Asian earwig. It has a color: the body is black with bright yellow spots in the area of the elytra and wing plates (10 - 16 mm). The pincers are very curved. Leads a daily lifestyle.
This species is widely represented in Central and Western Asia. It lives in semi-deserts, and in the southern territories - in the mountains. It feeds mainly on plant foods. This species undergoes migration through flight. Their flight speed is low, but they can rise high (above 100 m). The mass flight lasts approximately two weeks.
Central Asian earwig. Unlike the Asian one, it is completely unable to fly, due to the fact that the species has completely lost its wings. This species lives in the forests of the subalpine zone, in the Tien Shan mountains at an altitude of 1500 m to 2800 m.
Guinea cave earwig. It mainly lives in caves, where it is practically deprived of sunlight. Due to these circumstances, this species has changed significantly in its appearance and body structure: the eyes are very poorly developed, the outer integument has pale pigmentation, and has very long limbs and antennae.
Scientists are still debating this species: according to some, hemimeras belong to earwigs, while other scientists propose to distinguish them as an independent order.
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This is interesting - where else can an earwig go?
I'll start with two terrible revelations. Firstly, earwig- this is not the same as two-tailed. That is, in our understanding, they are, of course, one and the same, but by turning to Wikipedia we will find that two-tails are completely different tiny creatures that inhabit the soil. However, for the sake of search relevance, I will also have to use the term “two-tailed” to refer to earwigs. Second terrible fact The thing about earwigs is that it turns out they can fly. True, they resort to this opportunity extremely rarely, just like, for example, cockroaches (yes, yes, they fly too!).
It is no secret that two-tailed animals cause horror in many people, although, in direct relation to humans, they are completely harmless creatures: they are non-poisonous, do not stink and do not bite. But, for example, yesterday during a photo shoot with an earwig, an elderly neighbor clucked around me so that I would be more careful, because double-tailed earwigs bite very painfully!
The very name “earwig” already inspires horror, and given that most people are afraid of insects as such, the presence of the words “ear” and “twirl” in the name causes not just horror, but panic horror (just imagine...) .
So here it is. Earwigs do not intend to crawl into anyone's ears. However, no one is immune from the discovery of various crawling creatures in the ears and the risk of this unpleasant event cannot be discounted. If you want horror stories, then read the comments, they are chilling.
In my opinion, it is quite plausible that in some ancient times, in a certain kingdom, in a certain state, where people lived in unsanitary conditions along with fleas, lice and earwigs, cases of two-wests getting into the ears regularly occurred, and the fear of this unpleasant phenomenon As a result, it was embodied in the popular name “earwig”, as if it were already a warning without any additional explanation.
The common earwig becomes helpless when it is grabbed by the cerci
Order Leatherwings or earwigs
So, earwigs or leatherwings are a whole order including 1967 species. The front wings are short elytra, under which are folded membranous wings adapted for flight. There are also wingless species of earwigs.
The main characteristic feature is the tail processes (cerci), which form chitinous forceps, which the earwig can use for defense, attack and movement of objects.
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Well, now about our most common representative of the two-east:
Common earwig (Forficula auricularia)
Appearance: the head is red-brown, the chest and paws are light brown, the abdomen and cerci are dark brown, almost black. Body length up to 3 cm.
The distribution area is everywhere.
Classification (according to Wikipedia):
- Type: arthropods
- Class: insects
- Squad: Leatheroptera (Dermaptera)
- Family: earworts (Forficulidae)
- Genus: Forficula
- View: Forficula auricularia
During the day it hides in dark, damp places, under the bark of trees, under objects lying on the ground. He loves various dirty rags, especially work gloves left in the garden (be careful, shake out earwigs before putting on gloves, especially if you suffer from insectophobia).
Earwigs begin breeding in late summer and early autumn.
To lay eggs, the female digs a hole about 10 cm deep, where she overwinters, covering the future offspring with her body and protecting them from possible attacks by other insects, including their relatives and their own male.
The male spends the winter with the female, but usually does not survive until spring. In the spring, the female lays another clutch of eggs. After waiting for the larvae to emerge (after 5-6 weeks), it continues to protect the offspring for some time, then completes its life cycle, and the larvae (nymphs) begin independent life. By appearance The larvae differ slightly from adult insects.
Due to their food preferences, the earwig is a pest, however, in my memory, there was no noticeable damage from them. As usual, it all depends on the number and crowding.
It is also known that earwigs can climb into bee hives, where they live quietly in insulating material and various crevices, feeding on honey, beebread and even bees (according to Wikipedia). The latter gives me vague doubts; somehow I can’t believe that an earwig can cope with a bee. Quicker, we're talking about about bee larvae.
Coastal earwig (Labidura riparia)
It differs from the common earwig mainly in color and habitat, although it belongs to a different family. Distributed everywhere. As the name suggests, it is found on the banks of water bodies (both fresh and salty), preferring sandy and sandy loam soils.
Coastal earwig, juvenile, possibly nymph (wings not yet formed)
Classification (according to Wikipedia):
- Type: arthropods
- Class: insects
- Squad: Leatheroptera (Dermaptera)
- Family: Labiduridae
- Genus: Labidura
- View: Labidura riparia
The body shape is practically no different from the common earwig. The color is lighter. Juveniles are light brown, blending in with the sand. In adults, black and orange elements appear in the color. The cerci are beige at the base, dark brown at the ends.
Coastal earwig, adult in the folds of a backpack
Personally, I first encountered the coastal earwig on the western coast of Crimea on the Bakal Spit. They accompanied us all evening, ate with us at the same table, some took pasta with them, keeping them in high-raised churches.
I must say, the number and persistence of insects in seeking shelter from the sun amazed me. In the morning, when assembling the camp, it was discovered that entire flocks of coastal earwigs had crowded under all the objects left on the ground, accumulated under the tent, backpacks, and also, if possible, crawled inside the luggage. Subsequently, the lost two-tails periodically suddenly jumped out of things over the course of several days of travel.
Earwigs are predominantly nocturnal insects, hiding during the day in various secluded places (under stones, under fallen leaves, for various purposes, etc.), sometimes gathering in groups of quite significant numbers of individuals. At night they become active, crawling animatedly in search of food. However, few species can be active during the day, for example, the small earwig flies in sunlight, especially often near dung heaps, and the tropical black earwig, according to observations in the Hawaiian Islands, is a very mobile insect that lives in damp places on sugar cane plantations, where she was observed crawling on leaves in search of food during the hottest hours of the day.
Let's look at the structure and lifestyle of an insect using the example of the common earwig.
Body structure of the common earwig
The body of the common earwig is dirty yellow, in some cases tar-brown. Antennae 13-segmented, 2nd segment rather long and clearly visible, slightly more than half as long as the 3rd, 3rd segment slightly widened towards the apex, cylindrical, the same length as the 5th, 4th segment short , barely longer than its width, about half as long as the 3rd. The head is rusty brown, sometimes almost or completely black, the seams are very sharp, deeply depressed. The fore-back is almost square, with dirty yellow sides. The posterior margin is moderately rounded. The elytra are dirty yellow, sometimes brownish, with a chopped off posterior edge. The wing plates are quite developed. The abdomen of the common earwig is widened in the middle, slightly tapering towards the apex, with dense, coarse punctures. The pincers are quite strongly flattened, their contacting part occupies no more than one quarter of their length, with a jagged inner edge, gradually tapering towards the middle, limiting internal parties almost a perfect circle. The rear end of the expanded part is obtuse-angled, the outer side from the base to the apex is slightly curved, or the pincers are more elongated, near the middle they are curved at a very obtuse angle, the outer sides are parallel to each other, the inner ones limit the rhomboidal space.
Diet and habitat of the common earwig
In terms of feeding regime, earwigs are quite polyphagous insects, feeding on both animal and plant foods, consuming living and rotting plants, animal remains, as well as attacking small larvae or adult insects, worms, and spiders. Moreover, for a number of species there is a clear preference for animal food.
The common earwig is widespread throughout Europe, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Also artificially introduced into North America and New Zealand.
Reproduction of the common earwig
The common earwig begins to mate in late summer - early autumn, and in this case the male and female move back towards each other with the rear ends of their bodies until they touch, after which the male bends his abdomen around its longitudinal axis, so that the underside of the end of the latter is in contact with the underside of the end of the abdomen females. A few days later, eggs are laid in one common pile. In addition to laying eggs in the fall, which thus overwinter, the female common earwig, having overwintered, continues to lay eggs in the spring. Eggs usually hatch after 26 days.
Economic importance of earwigs
Earwigs, being a small group of insects in terms of the number of species, have relatively little economic importance compared to the rest of the order complex. However, this group still includes a number of species that have a certain and sometimes very significant economic importance for individual crops and economically valuable plants.
The most significant role is played by 3 types of earwigs - the Asian earwig, the garden earwig and the common earwig. As for the first species, it is a pest of the seeds of the wild rubber plant - tau-sagyz in the Karatau mountains in southern Kazakhstan, which is currently a significant source of seed products necessary for planting plantations of this very valuable rubber plant. The harm is expressed in the gnawing of stigmas and pistils in flowers or sometimes in the complete eating of ovaries in young buds.
The garden earwig, on the contrary, is an extremely polyphagous pest, which is especially significant for garden crops (potatoes, beets, soybeans, poppy seeds, sunflower seedlings, cabbage, tomatoes), as well as for melons (cucumbers, pumpkins, melons), tobacco and floriculture, causing damage both in the larval and adult states by gnawing leaves, gnawing stems, or even completely consuming seedlings and young plantings. In addition, this species is noted as a pest of sugar beet seeds in Ukraine, gnawing out semi-ripe seeds. Climbing into weak apple fruits, the earwig can also cause some, but insignificant, harm.
The common earwig is harmful in Ukraine and Western Europe garden plants and floriculture, eating living leaves, flowers and semi-ripe seeds. In addition, this species is important for corn and other cereals (semi-ripe seeds are eaten) and fruit trees. Having been brought to North America The common earwig species has even become a quarantine object due to the severe damage it causes to nurseries of ornamental and other trees. In New Zealand, where this species was also introduced, it became the scourge of local fruit growing. In addition, there have been cases of this type gnawing out passages in baked bread.
From all this it should be concluded that the order of earwigs is not a group of insects indifferent to humans. Economic importance They can sometimes be so significant that the absence of certain control measures can jeopardize the yield from damaged crops.
Poisonousness of earwigs
Distinctive feature of a given insect are ticks, which are an organ usually used for defense and attack, and it is very characteristic that in both cases, earwigs take a scorpion pose, raising the back of the abdomen with ticks up and bending the latter forward, so that the ends of the ticks are located above the head and chest. The muscles that control the mites are so strong that the insect can pierce human skin with the mites until they bleed. In addition, some species, when pierced, can cause local inflammation of the skin with the help of their mites, which is probably also facilitated by the presence of a septic origin on them.
Species Earwig is an insect that belongs to the order Earwigs. There are more than 1,900 species in the order of earwigs, but only 26 species are typical for the CIS countries. Most species have minimal differences in body structure. Most often they differ only in color, size, and habitat. The most famous species and representatives of the earwig order: common earwig, seaside, Asian, viviparous, small, Central Asian, cave and others.
Head The head of the earwig is almost heart-shaped with chewing mouthparts directed forward; thread-like antennae located on it different types have different number segments from 8 to 50. The head of the earwig is almost heart-shaped with chewing mouth parts directed forward; The thread-like antennae located on it in different species have a different number of segments from 8 to 50. The head of the earwig is almost heart-shaped with chewing mouthparts directed forward; The filamentous antennae located on it in different species have a different number of segments from 8 to 50.
Limbs of One of the characteristic features The structure of earwigs is their aircraft. Their front pair of wings is greatly shortened and turned into hard, leathery elytra. The soft, membranous hind wings are very wide and fan-shaped; on their anterior edge there is a horny plate. IN calm state the wings are folded like a fan along the veins, and then twice more across and are hidden under the elytra, from under which only the ends of the hard horny plates protrude outward. The legs are usually of the running type, relatively short, with 3-segmented tarsi.
Forceps The relatively elongated abdomen consists of 10 segments; the “pincers” located at its end are modified cerci; they are not divided into segments and are often armed with various teeth and projections. In males, ticks are much more developed than in females. The shape and size of mites are very variable. Within the same species there are males with short and long ticks.
Forceps Pincers are, first of all, an organ of defense and attack. If an earwig is disturbed, it will assume a defensive posture. In this case, the abdomen bends upward and forward, as a result of which the ends of the ticks are located above the head and chest. It is characteristic that in some species, for example the earwig, the motor muscles of the ticks are so highly developed that they can pierce human skin with them, drawing blood. Pincers are also used to hold captured prey while eating.
Lifestyle The common earwig leads a hidden lifestyle, hiding during the day under stones, fallen trees, as well as under the bark of trees and old stumps. In such shelters, earwigs sometimes accumulate in large numbers. At night, on the contrary, they become very active; crawl out of their daytime shelters and quickly run in search of food.
Food Food can be very diverse and its composition depends on the characteristics of the habitat. She can eat various parts dead and living green plants, fungi and algae developing under the bark, as well as animal food, including small insects.
Earwig eggs develop with incomplete metamorphosis. The female lays eggs in one common pile, in a specially prepared nest. The nest is a passage dug in the ground from 5 to 8 cm long, less often up to 15 cm. Usually the nest passage is made in the form of a straight tube, but sometimes it has a side branch. In this burrow, the female remains to overwinter along with the eggs and after overwintering she lays eggs again.
Care Females show a kind of care for their offspring, protecting the eggs until the larvae hatch from them. In this case, the female is positioned in the nest in such a way that she covers the laid pile of eggs with her head and front legs. She has to protect her offspring not only from external enemies, but also from the male and other females who are not averse to occasionally feasting on the laid eggs.
