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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Earwigs (Dermaptera) » Common Earwigs (Forficulidae) » Forficula » European Earwig (Forficula auricularia) » immature stages (Forficula auricularia immature stages)
Photo#183415
Immature earwigs? - Forficula auricularia - male
Copyright © 2008 Anne Burton

Immature earwigs? - Forficula auricularia - Male
Portland, Cumberland County, Maine, USA
May 17, 2008
Size: 1/4" or less
These look like young earwigs to me. They (along with 10's of others) appear to live in one of three present (or former) entrances to an Agapostemon virescens burrow. I saw the striped rear end of one of the bees down in the hole -- over a period of time (minutes) it moved around. It was hard to tell if it was serving as food for earwigs, or if it was simply going about its normal business. I have never seen a bee actually coming or going through this entrance. And the entrance itself does not have the precision sculpting and smoothness that the other entrances have -- it is raggedy.
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Contributed by Anne Burton on 18 May, 2008 - 11:40am
Last updated 23 December, 2009 - 10:16am

Moved
Moved from European Earwig.
… v belov, 23 December, 2009 - 10:16am login or register to post comments

Yes, earwigs.
Earwigs are pretty omnivorous, so perhaps these were scavenging a dead bee? Also, female European earwigs exhibit parental care, the offspring staying together through several molts before dispersing. Maybe the old, abandoned Agapostemon burrow was a perfect nursery for the female earwig.
… Eric R. Eaton, 18 May, 2008 - 8:51pm login or register to post comments

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