Common earwig or European earwig - Forficula auricularia (Linnaeus,1758) - Cyprus

Order: Dermaptera

Family: Forficulidae

Forficula auricularia, the common earwig or European earwig, is an omnivorous insect in the family Forficulidae. The European earwig survives in a variety of environments and is a common household insect in North America. The name "earwig" comes from a false superstition that these insects crawl into human ears and enter the brain; in fact, they are harmless to humans. However, they are considered a pest because of the damage they do to crops, their frightening appearance, ability to fly (which they rarely use), foul odor, and tendency to invade crevices in homes and consume pantry foodstuffs.

The Forficula auricularia is reddish brown in colour, with a flattened and elongate body, and slender, beaded antennae. An obvious feature of earwigs is the pair of 'pincers' or forceps at the tip of the flexible abdomen. Both sexes have these pincers; in males they are large and very curved, whereas in females they are straight. Larvae or 'nymphs' are similar to adults in appearance, but their wings are either absent or small

European earwigs spend the day time in cool, dark, inaccessible places such as flowers, fruits, and wood crevices. Active primarily at night, they seek out food ranging from plant matter to small insects. Though they are omnivorous, they are considered scavengers rather than predators. Often they consume plant matter, though they have also been known to feed on aphids, spiders, insect eggs, and dead plants and insects, among other things. Their favorite plants include the common crucifer Sisymbrium officinale, the white clover Trifolium repens, and the dahlia Dahlia variabilis. They also like to feed on molasses, as well as on nonvascular plants, lichens and algae. They prefer meat or sugar to natural plant material even though plants are a major natural food source. European earwigs prefer aphids to plant material such as leaves and fruit slices of apple, cherry and pear. Adults eat more insects than do nymphs.

Although F. auricularia have well-developed wings, they are fairly weak and are rarely, if ever, used. Instead, as their main form of transportation, earwigs are carried from one place to another on clothing or commercial products like lumber, ornamental shrubs and even newspaper bundles From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Achna 26/10/2014 by George Konstantinou