Forficula auricularia

Forficula auricularia is a species complex comprising the common earwig or European earwig, 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 the appearance of the hindwings, which are unique and distinctive among insects, and resemble a human ear when unfolded; the species name of the common earwig, auricularia, is a specific reference to this feature.^[1][2] They are considered a household pest because of their tendency to invade crevices in homes and consume pantry foods,^[3] and may act either as a pest or as a beneficial species depending on the circumstances.^[4][5]

Forficula auricularia
Male in Hengelo, The Netherlands
Female in Brión, Spain
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Dermaptera
Family:	Forficulidae
Genus:	Forficula
Species:	F. auricularia
Binomial name
Forficula auricularia Linnaeus, 1758

Forficula auricularia is reddish-brown in color, with a flattened and elongate body, and slender, beaded antennae. Earwigs feature 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. Nymphs are similar to adults in appearance, but their wings are either absent or small.^[6]

Morphology

 

Illustration of common earwig with wings extended

Forficula auricularia has an elongated flattened brownish-colored body,^[7] with a shield-shaped pronotum,^[8] two pairs of wings and a pair of forcep-like cerci.^[9] They are about 12–15 mm (0.47–0.59 in) long. The second tarsal segment is lobed, extending distally below the third tarsal segment.^[10] The antenna consists of 11–14 segments, and the mouth parts are of the chewing type.^[7]

Adult males are polymorphic in body weight and head width, as well as cercus length and width.^[11] The male forceps are very robust and broadened basally with crenulate teeth.^[12] The female forceps are about 3 mm long, and are less robust and straighter. The cerci are used during mating, feeding, and self-defense. Females also have tegmina of about 2 mm (0.08 in) in length. Third instar or older nymphs that have lost one branch of cerci are capable of regenerating it in form of a straight structure. Males with asymmetrical forceps are called gynandromorphs or hermaphrodites because they resemble females.^[13]

Distribution

Native to Europe, western Asia and probably North Africa,^[14][15] Forficula auricularia was introduced to North America in the early twentieth century and is currently spread throughout much of the continent.^[12] It was accidentally introducted into New Zealand by Early European settlers.^[16] European earwigs are most commonly found in temperate climates, since they were originally discovered in the Palearctic region, and are most active when the daily temperature has minimal fluctuation.^[3][17]

Taxonomy

A detailed analysis of mitochondial DNA from specimens across Europe has established that F. auriculata is a complex of several morphologically indistinguishable species. There are at least four species in the Forficula auricularia complex: Forficula auricularia, Forficula dentata, Forficula mediterranea, and Forficula aeolica.^[18]

In this treatment the name F. auriculata applies to those found in Scandinavia and Central Europe, whereas Forficula dentata is the usual species found in the British Isles and Western Europe. These correspond to species A and species B below. There are several other members of the complex based on mitochondial haplotypes.^[18]

In North America, European earwigs were found to comprise two sibling species, which are reproductively isolated.^[19] Populations in cold continental climates mostly have one clutch per year, forming species A,^[20] whereas those in warmer climates have two clutches per year, forming species B.^[19][21]

Behavior

European earwigs spend the daytime in cool, dark, inaccessible places such as flowers, fruits, and wood crevices.^[9][14][22] Active primarily at night, they seek out food ranging from plant matter to small insects. Though they are omnivorous, they are considered as scavengers rather than predators.^[3] 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.^[17] Their favorite plants include the common crucifer Sisymbrium officinale, the white clover Trifolium repens, and the dahlia Dahlia variabilis.^[23] They also like to feed on molasses, as well as on nonvascular plants, lichens and algae.^[14] They prefer meat or sugar to natural plant material even though plants are a major natural food source.^[24] European earwigs prefer aphids to plant material such as leaves and fruit slices of apple, cherry and pear.^[25] Adults eat more insects than do nymphs.^[14]

Although F. auricularia have well-developed wings, they are fairly weak and are rarely, if ever, used.^[22] 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.^[12][26]

Reproduction

 

Female with nest

A male finds prospective mates by olfaction. He then slips his cerci under the tip of the female's abdomen so that his and her ventral abdominal surfaces are in contact with each other, while both face in opposite directions. If not disturbed, pairs can stay in this mating position for many hours.^[9][13] Matings occurred frequently among clustered individuals particularly in locations that allow both partners to cling to a surface.^[9] Under laboratory conditions, the mating season peaked during August and September, and a single mating event enabled females to lay fertilized eggs.^[13]

European earwig nymphs look very similar to their adult counterparts except that they are a lighter color.^[12] The young go through four nymphal stages and do not leave the nest until after the first moult.^[3]

European earwigs overwinter about 5 mm (0.2 in) below the surface of the ground. The female earwig lays a clutch of about 50 eggs in an underground nest in the autumn. She enters a dormant state and stays in the nest with the eggs. The female cares for her young by shifting the eggs about and cleaning them to avoid fungal growth. In the spring, she spreads them out into a single layer and the young emerge from the eggs.^[17] She guards them until they reach maturity after about one month. It is possible for the female to lay a second brood in one season and by the end of August all of the young reach maturity.^[3]

Habitat

 

Female

European earwigs survive well in cool, moist habitats and have an optimum mean growth temperature of 24 °C (75 °F).^[14] Their daily abundance in a given year has been linked to factors such as temperature, wind velocity and the prevalence of easterly winds.^[27] The development of European earwigs also depends on temperature.^[13][14] Thus, the occurrence of European earwigs can be predicted based on weather parameters.^[28] Hibernating adults can tolerate cool temperatures, but their survival is reduced in poorly drained soils such as clay.^[14] To avoid excessive moisture, they seek the southern side of well-drained slopes. Sometimes they also occupy the hollow stems of flowers where the soil is poorly drained.^[13][29] Their eggs are capable of resisting damage from cold and heat.^[30]

Agricultural impact

Forficula auricularia has been known to cause significant damage to crops, flowers, and fruit orchards when at high population levels. Some of the commercially valuable vegetables it feeds upon include cabbage, cauliflower, chard, celery, lettuce, potato, beet, and cucumber among others. Earwigs readily consume corn (maize) silk and can damage the crop. Among fruits, they have been found to damage apple and pear orchards. They damage young plum and peach trees in early spring, when other food is scarce, by devouring blossoms and leaves at night. It is not uncommon to find them wedged among petals of fresh cut carnations, roses, dahlia and zinnia.^[17]

In addition to all of the agricultural problems caused, humans are not very fond of F. auricularia because of its foul odor and annoying propensity to aggregate together in or near human dwellings.^[17]

Control of F. auricularia has been attempted using some of its natural enemies, including the parasitoid fly Bigonicheta spinipenni, the fungi Erynia forficulae and Metarhizium anisopliae, as well as many species of birds.^[17] The tachinid flies Triarthria setipennis (Fallen) and Ocytata pallipes have been introduced in North America to control F. auricularia in the 1920s.^[31]

Insecticides have also been successfully implemented, although commercial products are rarely targeted specifically towards earwigs. Multipurpose insecticides for control of earwigs, grasshoppers, sowbugs and other insects are more common.^[17] Diazinon, an organophosphate insecticide, has been known to continue killing F. auricularia up to 17 days after initial spraying.^[32]

Humans have, however, found beneficial uses of F. auricularia in the pest management of other insects. The European earwig is a natural predator of a number of other agricultural pests, including the pear psyllid and several aphid species, and in this regard has been used to control outbreaks of such organisms.^[5] Damage to crops by F. auricularia is limited as long as there are high population levels of their insect prey.^[4]

See also

• List of Dermapterans of Australia
• List of Dermapterans of Sri Lanka

References

1. Costa, J.T. (2006). The Other Insect Societies. United States, Harvard University: Harvard University Press.
2. "Dermaptera - earwigs". ento.csiro.au. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
3. Jacobs S. "Entomological Notes: European Earwigs". Penn State–College of Agricultural Sciences. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
4. Vickery, V. and D. Kevan. 1986. The Insects and Arachnids of Canada, Part 14. Canada Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, ON.
5. Moerkens R, Leirs H, Peusens G, Gobin B (2009). "Are populations of European earwigs, Forficula auricularia, density dependent?". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 130 (2): 198–206. doi:10.1111/j.1570-7458.2008.00808.x.
6. . arkive.org/. Wildscreen Arkive. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
7. White RA, Borror DJ (1987). A Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexico. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-91170-2.
8. Buckell ER (1929). "The Dermaptera of Canada". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of British Columbia. 26: 9–27.
9. Fulton BB (1924). "The European earwig". Station Bulletin/Oregon Agricultural College Experiment Station. 207: 1–29.
10. Helfer JR (1963). How to know the grasshopper, crickets, cockroaches and their allies. Dubuque, Iowa: William Brown Co. pp. 13–19.
11. Lamb RJ, Robert J. (1976). "Polymorphism among males of the European earwig, Forficula auricularia (Dermaptera: Forficulidae)". The Canadian Entomologist. 108 (1): 69–75. doi:10.4039/Ent10869-1.
12. Weems HV Jr; Skelley PE. "Featured Creatures: European Earwig". University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Services: Department of Entomology and Nematology. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
13. Behura BK (1956). "The biology of the common earwig, Forficula auricularia". The Annals of Zoology. 1: 117–42.
14. Crumb SE, Eide PM, Bonn AE (1941). "The European earwig". Technical Bulletin United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 766: 1–76.
15. Clausen CP (1978). "Dermaptera Forficulidae". Introduced parasites and predators of arthropod pests and weeds: A world review. Washington: U. S. Dept. Of Agriculture. pp. 15–18.
16. Parkinson B. J. & Horne D. (2007). A photographic guide to insects of New Zealand. New Holland. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-86966-151-9.
17. Capinera, J. 2001. Handbook of Vegetable Pests. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
18. González-Miguéns, Rubén; Muñoz-Nozal, Eva; Jiménez-Ruiz, Yolanda; Mas-Peinado, Paloma; Ghanavi, Hamid R; García-París, Mario (2020-11-07). "Speciation patterns in the Forficula auricularia species complex: cryptic and not so cryptic taxa across the western Palaearctic region". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 190 (3): 788–823. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa070. ISSN 0024-4082.
19. Wirth T., et al. (1998). Molecular and reproductive characterization of sibling species in the European earwig (Forficula auricularia). Evolution 52(1) 260–65.
20. Gingras J, Tourneur J (2001). "Timing of adult mortality, oviposition, and hatching during the underground phase of Forficula auricularia (Dermaptera: Forficulidae)". The Canadian Entomologist. 133 (2): 269–278. doi:10.4039/Ent133269-2.
21. Guillet S, Josselin N, Vancassel M (2000). "Multiple introductions of the Forficula auricularia species complex (Dermaptera: Forficulidae) in eastern North America". The Canadian Entomologist. 132 (1): 49–57. doi:10.4039/Ent13249-1.
22. Goe MT (1925). "Eight months study of earwigs (Dermaptera)". Entomological News. 36: 234–38.
23. Beall G. (1932). "The life history and behavior of the European earwig, Forficula auricularia, L. in British Columbia". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of British Columbia. 39: 28–43.
24. Fulton BB (1927). "Concerning some statements on the habits of the European earwig (Orthoptera: Forficulidae)". Entomological News. 38: 272–73.
25. Carroll DP, Hoyt 1984. (1984). "Augmentation of European earwigs (Dermaptera: Forficulidae) for biological control of apple aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) in an apple orchard". Journal of Economic Entomology. 77 (3): 738–40. doi:10.1093/jee/77.3.738.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
26. Walker KA (1997). Aggregation, courtship, and behavioural interactions in European earwigs, Forficula auricularia L. (Dermaptera: Forficulidae). PhD dissertation. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
27. Chant DA, McLeaod JH (1952). "Effects of certain climatic factors on the daily abundance of the European earwig, Forficula auricularia L. (Dermaptera: Forficulidae), in Vancouver, British Columbia". The Canadian Entomologist. 84 (6): 174–80. doi:10.4039/Ent84174-6.
28. Helson H, Vaal F, Blommers L (1998). "Phenology of the common earwig Forficula auricularia L. (Dermaptera: Forficulidae) in an apple orchard". International Journal of Pest Management. 44 (2): 75–79. doi:10.1080/096708798228356.
29. Weems HV, Skelley PE (1989). "European earwig - Forficula auricularia Linnaeus (Dermaptera: Forficulidae)". Entomology Circular. 318: 2.
30. Chauvin G, Hamon C, Vancassel M, Vannier G (1991). "The eggs of Forficula auricularia L. (Dermapter: Forficulidae): ultrastructure and resistance to low and high temperatures". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 69 (11): 2873–78. doi:10.1139/z91-405.
31. Bugguide.net. Species Forficula auricularia - European Earwig
32. Maher B, Logan D (2007). "European earwigs, Forficula auricularia, and predation of scale insects in organic and conventionally managed kiwifruit". New Zealand Plant Protection. 60 (60): 249–53. doi:10.30843/nzpp.2007.60.4618.

Further reading

• Cranshaw, Whitney (2004). Garden Insects of North America. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09561-2.
• Eisner, T. (1960). Defense Mechanisms of Arthropods. II. The Chemical and Mechanical Weapons of an Earwig. Psyche 67:62–70

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forficula auricularia.

 

Wikispecies has information related to Forficula auricularia.

• - Forficula auricularia fact page as well as photos and video
• Encyclopedia of Life - Forficula auricularia images and facts
• - Gardening advice in relation to Forficula auricularia