Bugs

Earwigs do not crawl in your ears

 

Earwigs are fine and cool

I don't know what changed exactly. When I was young, I used to see earwigs around the house all the time. Did we seal the skirting board? Was it the change of carpets? Maybe it's because we fixed up the bathroom? They just don’t seem to hang out anymore.

I can't be sure what changed. Anyway, I used to tell my sister I'd put them in her ears when she slept and, just like The Bee and Jupiter, those evil wishes came home to roost; occasionally I'm plagued with thoughts of insects creeping into my ears as a I nod off. Regardless, I almost never see earwigs around the place—that was, until I met Barry.

Some facts, finally

This chap below is male, which you can tell by the rounded, large cerci. It scared the shit out of me for a split second. I picked up my bag, it touched my hand and I recoiled, knocking it onto the floor. So, like any of us would, I got my trusty-but-janky homemade macro lens out.

And when I was done, I let Barry out into the hallway. Good luck to him.

  • Earwigs are mostly nocturnal

  • They're found on all continents, except Antartica

  • The cerci (forcep-like pincers) are for catching prey, defence, and, in some species, copulation

  • Which reminds me of Cersei and makes me wonder if G-R-R-Martin was thinking

  • Especially because the females show maternal care, which is rare among non-social insects

  • And she’s all about her kids, ya know

So what’s in a name? Most folks reckon their common name derives from the old English for ear insect—not because they go about hanging in your lug holes, but because their hind wings look like a human ear when unfolded. Yeah. They got wings, but I never seen’t it.

 
Rowena Harris