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Photo#388951
Baby Earwigs - Forficula dentata

Baby Earwigs - Forficula dentata
Enumclaw, Forested Unincorporated King County, Washington, USA
April 23, 2010
Size: 10-11mm
1.5 months after hatching from the eggs. They're growing up so fast and I swear they seem to each have their own personality. After their recent molt, they gained about 3mm in length as well as some more well defined forewings. Unfortunately, it's only the two that survived. I'm not sure what percentage of a brood would survive in nature but it seems that I only managed to keep about 20% of them alive (I only collected 10 of the eggs from the clutch under the rock). It was my first time with earwig rearing, though, and I enjoyed watching them grow.

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Baby Earwigs - Forficula dentata Baby Earwigs - Forficula dentata Baby Earwigs - Forficula dentata Baby Earwigs - Forficula dentata Baby Earwigs - Forficula dentata Baby Earwigs - Forficula dentata Baby Earwigs - Forficula dentata

Moved
Moved from immature stages.

Moved
Moved from Forficulidae.

Moved
Moved from Earwigs.

Darn it...
Well, these two little ones seemed to have escaped! I wish I could have gotten photos of them as adults so that the life cycle series would be more complete, but, eh...

I'm going to go ahead and move them to Forficulidae, as Chuck Entz said they were (I ended up erasing the photo he used to make that determination because I wanted to add other photos). I think they are Forficula auricularia since that's the most prominent species in my yard.

 
This image will do
As is most apparent on the right legs of the bottom specimen, the middle of the three tarsal/foot segments sticks out underneath the outermost segment, and is wider than it. That clinches it as Forficulidae.

I'm not familiar with the immature stages of Doru, so I might be wrong, but the forceps on these males are closer together at the base than I would expect for Doru, and the pygidium between the legs is square on the end instead of pointed as I would expect for Doru. I would also expect the wings to be darker on the edges along the center line of the body: in adult Doru, they're completely dark there, contrasting with straw-colored on the parts along the sides of the body. Those characteristics should confirm it as Forficula auricularia

 
Thanks again for your help, Chuck!
I always enjoy your comments because I can always learn from them. I will move these to F. auricularia then. Those Doru sure are pretty. I've never seen any around here before. The info page says they are usually around water... maybe that's why. It's humid here, but I don't live close to a body of water (at least not one that's within 5-10 minutes drive time). Thanks again!

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