Forficula auricularia
EARWIGS (Forficulidae)

Description
The European Earwig is about .75 inch long. The body is black with red accents and is elongate. The head is red with black eyes. The legs and antennae are tan colored. The male forceps are .25 to .50 inch long. The antennae have up to 12 segments.

Occurrence
The European Earwig is common at Fontenelle Forest and Neale Woods.  The European Earwig was introduced and became established first in Seattle, Washington in 1907.  It is now locally abundant from coast to coast. These cold tolerant earwigs range up into the Canadian interior.

Comments
Females lay a clutch of eggs which they tend and keep clean. They continue to tend the immatures in the early stages. The immatures are miniature, undeveloped versions of the adults. As the nymph approaches adulthood the wings develop on the thorax and become functional in the last molt. The number of segments in the antennae increases with each molt. When prey (insects and other invertebrates) is scarce it can become a minor pest on flowers and fruit.

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