Here we are responsible for explaining Guizhou’s wild animals, wild plants, wild stones, and wild air—explaining everything wild in Guizhou! 1,053 species of vertebrates and more than 8,400 species of wild vascular plants, each of which is legendary.
For some animal names, whether they are birds, fish or insects, there are often some weird words that give many people a headache. The "read half of long words and half of wide words" method often works well, but there are often exceptions. Some words are difficult to pronounce even half of them, such as "袁螼". Do you know how to pronounce it? Let me tell you, you should read qú sōu.
So what kind of animal is "earwig"? Maybe many people don't know it. But if I talk about Erpin, or show you photos or specimens, you will definitely say, "I've seen it, I've seen it, I often see it in the cracks of doors or on vegetable leaves, but I don't know what it should be called."
Earwigs are not a specific type of insect, but a collective name for insects of the order Dermoptera Spheridae. There are about 1,900 species in the world, and 211 species have been recorded in China.
The reason why it is called "Dermaptera" is because its short forewings are leathery. Many earwigs have two long pincers at their tails, so people generally call them splints, nail clippers, splint bugs, scissor bugs, ear clippers, etc. Don't tell me, the earwig's tail is like carrying two swords behind its back. It can be used not only to show its grace and chicness, to attract the opposite sex and achieve the purpose of courtship, but also to hunt and fight against predators. It functions as a "sword" and can also be used to open and close the membranous hind wings, activating the ability to fly and escape. If it is provoked, it will bend its belly and show its "ferocious" tail. It will ask you if it is afraid of you.
Earwigs generally have a body length of 4-35 mm, a long and narrow body, slightly flat, and a flat and wide head. The tentacles are filamentous and always swaying in order to sense the external environment. compound eyes is very big, but there is no single eye. The mouthparts are chewing type, and the two "big teeth" look a bit scary. The pronotum is well developed, and the square body surface is leathery and shiny. The forewings are specialized into extremely small leathery wings, which usually cannot reach the third segment of the abdomen. The fan-shaped membranous hind wings are usually folded under the forewings when at rest. Some species of earwigs have no wings at all and only crawl on the ground or walls.
earwig
Most earwig parents choose their own unrestrained lifestyle. The male is only responsible for mating, while the female also completes her duties as a mother after laying eggs, leaving their children to fend for themselves. There are also some types of earwigs that are very maternal. After the female lays 30-50 eggs at a time in a "nest" under a stone or wood, she will stay to take care of her eggs and nymphs at regular intervals. Just lick the eggs up and down to clean them, prevent them from growing mold, and protect the nymphs from predators. She is a responsible mother.
Earwigs are incomplete metamorphosis organisms. After the eggs hatch into larvae, they do not go through the pupal stage and grow directly from the larvae to adults after molting 4-6 times. This process sounds easy, but it may take up to a year. In cold places, there is usually one generation per year and the adults overwinter, while in warm places there can be two generations per year. Those species with strong maternal instincts will find suitable food for their larvae and even regurgitate the food they have eaten to feed the nymphs. But once the nymphs pass through several instars (growth stage), the mother's maternal instinct will suddenly disappear, and she will frantically eat those nymphs that grow relatively slowly, are weak, and have not had time to leave the nest. This seemingly cruel, even "inhumane" approach is of great significance to the development of this population. The law of nature itself is that the weak will eat the strong, and the fittest will survive. Only the truly strong will pass on their genes, which will make the greatest contribution to the existence of the population.
Earwigs like moist and dark environments, and usually live in bark cracks, dead wood or under leaf litter. Earwigs are afraid of light and very sensitive. They like to be active at night and have the habit of flying toward light.Omnivorous or carnivorous, it mainly preys on fruit tree pests and can prey on more than 40 kinds of small insects, such as armigera , pink bollworm , Spodoptera litura , cotton aphid , etc. Earwigs eat aphids . One earwig adult can prey on more than 200 cotton aphids in a day. Some specialize in eating a certain type of insect, while others eat crop pests, such as codling moths and caterpillars . A few species harm flowers, stored grains, stored fruits, silkworms and fresh insect specimens, and some species are also ectoparasites of bats and mice. Many earwig species are directly classified as pests because they harm crops, such as the European earwig and the Australian earwig. In ancient Europe, people believed that earwigs could crawl into people's ears and crawl along the ear canal to the brain to lay eggs. There are also similar rumors in China that earwigs can burrow into ears. And the English name earwigs comes from Old English , which means "ear insect". So the question is, do earwigs really pierce ears? will leave some suspense first, and answer the question at the end of the article.
All species in the world have their own wisdom for survival. Friends and foes are also relative terms. It just depends on whether you know how to respect facts and life.
Picture source: Welcomewildlife
About earwigs, you may be interested in these trivia facts:
Earwigs have special escape skills
There is a gland sac in the 3rd and 4th segments of the earwig's abdomen, which can produce a very smelly smell. The gas emits a toxic mixture of benzene and benzene. When they are attacked, they will fall to the ground and pretend to be dead. If the enemy continues to approach, they will emit stinky odor to make the enemy reluctant to come closer and buy time for escape.
Earwigs are "different between men and women"
The unique tail barb is the male and female sign of the earwig. The male's tail barb is large and complex in shape, while the female's tail is relatively "low-key", just like a girl's "legs together" and subtle Introverted, the man "crosses his legs" Wuwei is domineering.
Male and female earwig picture source: MDC Discover Nature
Finally answer the question in the article: In fact, any small bug has the possibility of entering the ear under certain conditions,But the human ear is not a favorite place for earwigs, so you don’t need to go overboard. Worry!
(Written by Ran Jingcheng)
