Ring-legged earwig
The ring-legged earwig is a dark brown earwig with pale legs, and each leg has a dark ring around it. It has no wings at all. At the back of its body it has a pair of pincers.
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Fun facts
The mother guards her eggs and licks off any mould that starts growing on them.
A mother lays about 50 eggs at a time, two to four times.
Males have more curved pincers than females.
In winter it stays deep in the ground.
About three out of every four babies grow up to be females.
Most asked questions about Ring-legged earwig
?Can a ring-legged earwig hurt you?
No. It may pinch a tiny bit if held, but it is harmless.
?Does the ring-legged earwig have wings?
No. It is a wingless earwig, unlike many others.
?Why is it called ring-legged?
Because each of its pale legs has a dark ring around the middle.
Myth buster
Myth: Earwigs crawl into people's ears.
Truth: They do not. Earwigs like dark hiding places under stones and leaves, not ears.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Euborellia annulipes
- Named by
- Lucas, 1847
- Group
- Other insects
- Family
- Anisolabididae
- Classification
- Insecta > Dermaptera > Anisolabididae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Ringlegged earwig
Where the facts come from
- Ringlegged earwig (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Burr, Lucas, Pudsy. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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