#dermaptera

kind enough to hide in an easily peelable spot but not lucky enough to avoid meddling peelers like me, this Forficula lesnei was so taken aback by my presence that he just sort of stood there and waited for me to be done and put him back. this particular individual apparently looks similar to the eastern european F. aetolica as a result of this species being very variable where i am, but to me it's all wigs

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Order: Dermaptera

Common Name: “earwigs”

Families: 12 - Karschiellidae, Diplatyidae, Haplodiplatyidae, Pygidicranidae, Hemimeridae, Apachyidae, Anisolabididae, Labiduridae (“striped earwigs”), Arixeniidae, Spongiphoridae (“little earwigs”), Chelisochidae (“black earwigs”), and Forficulidae (“common earwigs”)

Anatomy: elongate, dorso-ventrally flattened body; chewing mouthparts; two compound eyes; membranous, semicircular hindwings are usually folded up beneath the modified forewings: shortened, smooth tegmina; characteristicly large, unsegmented cerci resemble forceps, and are usually sexually dimorphic; the families Hemimeridae and Arixeniidae are eyeless and wingless exoparasites, and various cave-dwelling species are eyeless as well

Diet: varies widely between species: leaves, flowers, corn silk, seeds, berries, grass shoots and roots, decaying plant and animal matter; plant lice, flies, aphids; parasitic species feed on dead skin cells, glandular secretions, fungi, and/or guano

Metamorphosis: hemimetabolous

Habitat: hide in small, moist crevices during the day, emerging at night to feed; found on all continents except Antarctica, but most diverse in the tropics

Evolved in: Late Triassic

(source)

Propaganda under the cut:

Orange-headed Earwing (Metrasura flaviceps), family Forficulidae, order Dermaptera), Costa Rica

Euborellia arcanum (Family Anisolabididae) caring for her nymphs

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TODAY'S FACT IS

Did you know that the European Earwig (Forficula auricularia) is an omnivorous scavenger? The wings unfurled look like human ears, giving the group their name. Both the male and the female earwig will participate in or start a complex mating ritual involving their cerci (the pincer-like prongs on their abdomen). These cerci are only ever used for courtship and defence and not to hold their mates in place.

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Auguste - Look Outside

A former human twisted into a new shape after Looking Outside. Auguste got possibly the least clean arthropoid fusions in the game, having turned into a chaotic mass of earwig anatomy with a panicked, still-human face at the core, surrounded by a "ribcage" of arms.

One of each of his arms and legs is the abdomen of an earwig, with pincer-like cerci, while the other is the front half of the animal. His left armwig has even spread its iridescent wings, adding an extra splash of colour to the sprite. Delightful!

Despite all his cerci, Auguste mostly attacks with his antennae.

Real earwigs fold their wings up and tuck them behind their hardened forewings, like beetles do. Look at em go!