Скачать или смотреть Common Earwig (Forficula auricularia) - Brighton, May 2022

At the risk of becoming repetitive, I've featured Forficula auricularia before on this channel (   • Common Earwig (Forficula auricularia)  -  ...  ) but today I literally saw the Common Earwig in a new light.

In fact, for nocturnal and/or dark & damp corner-loving species any light is always a little surprising, let alone finding a male earwig on the top leaves of a tall plant in full, midday sunshine.

However it enabled a clearer and closer look than one generally gets of Earwigs, which usually involves them scurrying away when accidentally disturbed.

And boy! I hadn't registered just how remarkable and colourful they are.

For example, check out those fearsome looking pincers, which are in fact harmless to humans. For the Earwig, they have multiple uses, such as warning or fending off potential predators, catching prey and competing with other males. It also said they use them during mating rituals.

For some, Earwigs are considered 'pests' whereas in fact, they are one of nature's tidy-uppers, feeding on and recycling dead and decaying plant matter and insects.

The UK is home to just 7 of approx, 2,000 'Dermaptera' species, which is the Order to which they belong.

There was even a 'giant Earwig' which grew to over 3 inches in length, the 'St Helena earwig' which, lived only on the Island from which it gained its name.

As is sometimes the case with island species, the St Helena earwig evolved to be larger than any of its non-island relatives. Sadly, the last live specimen was seen as far back as 1907.

PK

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