Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

National Moth Week was July 23-31, 2022! See moth submissions.

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29

Photos of insects and people from the 2015 gathering in Wisconsin, July 10-12


Previous events
TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Earwigs (Dermaptera) » Common Earwigs (Forficulidae) » Forficula » European Earwig (Forficula auricularia)
Photo#16853
mama and babies - Forficula auricularia - female
Copyright © 2005 Jim McClarin

mama and babies - Forficula auricularia - Female
Cool, El Dorado County, California, USA
March 6, 2005
The adult is no doubt the mother. Mother earwigs lay a batch of eggs, drive the male away, and stay with the eggs through hatching and early nymph stage, if not longer. Earwigs do not have a larval stage.
tag · login or register to post comments
Contributed by Jim McClarin on 9 May, 2005 - 3:49pm
Last updated 8 December, 2005 - 5:33pm

Great
A great family scene, nice documentation of some important natural history. I see one of the nymph's cast skins is in the scene too.

--Stephen

Stephen Cresswell
Buckhannon, WV
www.stephencresswell.com
… Stephen_WV, 9 May, 2005 - 5:07pm login or register to post comments

 
Maybe fresh hatchling
Thank you Stephen. Even though I've had these pictures for a few months, I didn't know the natural history of earwigs till today, when I read about them on a Web site.

If by "cast skin" you refer to the white shape, I think it is either a freshly moulted nymph or a fresh hatchling. It takes awhile for their color to appear. I've got other images from same family in which the white things appear to be whole insects rather than shed skins.
… Jim McClarin, 9 May, 2005 - 5:28pm login or register to post comments

 
However,
it is at a very odd angle for a live nymph so you might well be right about this one.
… Jim McClarin, 28 November, 2009 - 8:19am login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2023 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact