Talk:Earwig

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Maybe something should be said about parental care, which is exhibited by the mother in some species of earwigs? It is a remarquably rare behaviour for invertebrates. IronChris | (talk) 22:27, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] OED

Don't you think that the OED have just been taken in by the myth about crawling in ears? Perhaps the myth simply stems from the name, together with most people never seeing them with their wings out. Billlion 14:26, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

The OED is about as authoritative as one can find - it would take a recent article in a leading peer-reviewed journal to justify spreading any doubts about etymology. Stan 16:48, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I have actually experienced having an earwig in my ear and have felt nothing as painful as it in my entire life. My friend's mum is a nurse and had no idea what was wrong (no one saw anything at all, I just fell to the floor screaming at the pain) and after about 20 minutes of her trying to arrange an ambulance an inch long ear wig fell out of my ear. Supposedly something similar happened to my step dad previously as well but I hadn't heard of it before. 82.3.50.60 04:22, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

I, too, have experienced having an earwig in my ear on two occasions. It happened both times while I was sleeping. When I jumped up and told my wife that something was in my ear, she assumed that I was having a dream. However, I assured her that I wasn't. The insect was moving around in my ear and it sounded like tree branches breaking. I rushed to the bathroom and my wife looked in my ear but could not see anything which made her think that I was indeed dreaming. I told her to pour some Hydrogen Peroxide in my ear, which she did. The earwig then started wiggling frantically and it tried to crawl out of my ear. Needless to say, my wife was suprised. It was about 1" long. It had bit me or otherwise lacerated my ear canal because blood was in my ear and it hurt for several days. About two months later, I had a similar experience. Earwigs most definitely will crawl into ears. Gardeners take advantage of their tendency for crawling into tubular spaces by setting out thin pipes in infested areas. They then shake the earwigs that have crawled into the pipes into a container containing kerosene, typically. I have used this "organic" method of earwig control myself and it is very effective. —Preceding unsigned comment added by ZoneIII (talk • contribs) 17:15, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What do earwigs eat?

In the last few months I have seen more earwigs than the rest of my life. These have almost all been when going through boxes of books. Do earwigs eat paper or can they in any way harm books? --Anon

Maybe you saw the silverfish, which look somewhat like earwig and do feast on paper? Earwigs don't eat paper, as far as I know. I don't even know if they can survive in cardboard boxes. They'd probably just dry out/starve. --Menchi 09:18, 23 July 2005 (UTC)
Yes, but what do they actually eat? It should be in the article. Also, I assume the info about going inside people's ears and laying eggs is false, so perhaps we should specifically state that they are harmless? Johntex\talk 20:44, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
Added info on their diet... Ray Trygstad 05:52, 13 June 2006 (UTC)


I kept a small number of earwigs in a mini habitat and I think one was canabalised but I am not sure.

[edit] legitimate ickyness to them?

Other than the wives' tale about earwigs burrowing into peoples' ears, is there any legitimate concern to be ickied out by them? Their color really is reminiscient of that of a cockroach's color, so the first thing I think of is they carry disease. Of course, this is probably an association fallacy, but this is why I am asking anyway. --70.134.217.129 08:46, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

Added info on this; not known to carry disease nor to ham human beings. They're mosly just icky. Ray Trygstad 05:54, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Is there an earwig season? I too have been seeing a lot of them, its quite disturbing. Also, what about controlling their population?


[edit] Ears?

So is the myth here actually a myth, or do they actually crawl into people's ears? This is what I came to this page to find out, and the info wasn't there...I know what my intuition tells me (NO) but I'm no biologist and I can't be sure...any help here? 24.20.131.214 12:49, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

As my professor said "Well, not anymore than any other random insect would want to crawl into your ear, I suppose"--Kugamazog 13:22, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

I just wanted to let the "world" know that "Earwigs" can and "DO" crawl into peoples ears! Just this past week I was awakened by such an experience! If U'd like a full account feel Free to contact me, email removed Yes they can crawl into your ear, but not to burrow into your head, its looking for a place to spend the day, if your mouth wasnt so hot it would probably go there too —Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.216.237.107 (talk) 14:49, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Earwigs most certainly DO crawl into peoples' ears. I have experienced it twice. See my description (above). I find it suprising that people claim that it is simply a myth that earwigs crawl in peoples' ears. I suppose those who say that simply haven't had it happen to them. But that is no reason to state that it doesn't happen. It DOES happen. I know from two personal experiences. Earwigs are known to like to crawl into holes and ears fit the bill. In fact, their tendency to crawl into tubular areas is exploited by knowledgeable gardeners who set up small pipes or tubes which earwigs then crawl into. ZoneIII (talk)

Earwigs DO crawl in people's ears, and from the 4 people it has happened to, there is a lot of pain and blood involved. Three teachers I work with were telling their own tales of pain and ear aches and waking in the middle of the night with blood streaming out of their ears. What came crawling out were ear wigs. Another told of the time when she remembered being in unbearable pain and screaming in her bed when she was six and being rushed to the hospital. What did the doctor pull out? A inch long earwig! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.167.246.206 (talk) 22:00, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

So, how does this all directly relate to improving the article?--Mr Fink (talk) 02:17, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

I have restored (again) the sourced statement that earwigs probably do crawl into the human ear. It relates directly to improving the article because, for most readers, the most important issue about earwigs is whether they crawl into the ear and cause harm. The article dispels the myth about burrowing into the brain to lay eggs. However, with several European languages linking their words for this particular insect with their words for the ear, the etymology suggests strongly that earwigs have crawled into ears across Europe for centuries. Farmers probably saw these insects crawling into or out of the ears of livestock, and probably human ears too. Earwigs probably do not cause serious injury (even perforated eardrums usually heal on their own), but if you see an earwig crawling near an ear, or if an earwig bites your eardrum, the issue will suddenly become very important to you - and vital to the article. TVC 15 (talk) 01:16, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Number of Species?

So is it 1800 or 900? Contradictory information. The 900 figure does not specify whether it is for any genus or any family or any other part of the order.AshLin 03:02, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

According to [1] there are about 2,200 species of earwigs, which would seem to lend credence to the upper number currently on the Wikipedia page. Mikya 03:14, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Entymological"

Some joker at User:160.39.165.194 renamed the section "Entymological etymology". Of course, there's no such word as entymological. Derek Balsam 14:47, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Or maybe it's a misspelling of entomological, as entomology is the scientific study of insects. --Ekaiyu 03:59, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
Yes, I am sure that was the intended meaning of the joke. But either way jokes don't belong as section headings. Derek Balsam 13:20, 12 July 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Biting/Stinging

I would just like to go on record as stating that these buggers sting, bite, whatever, with those pincers. I just got tagged pretty good by one I was getting off my leg while I was half-asleep. Holes on my finger tip went deep enough to draw blood, and in pretty serious drops when I squeezed it. Hurt, too. Clotted quickly, though- no diameter, of course. Like being stabbed by a pair of thumbtacks. -- JS

You are correct, JS. My ear canal was bloody and sore for days after an earwig crawled into it. ZoneIII (talk)

OMG :P -- Obradović Goran (talk 22:07, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
That's what I said. -- JS


An anonymous author added the following unsourced statement regarding the name "pincher bug:" "This name more likely relates to the incorrect belief that these creatures bite with their pinchers." Although the anonymous author may have intended a very narrow and undisclosed definition of "bite," I reverted the statement based on the linkable article asserting that the cerci "are used to open the wings, to capture prey and for defence." [2] With 1,800 species, cerci may vary considerably. The linked source and the personal report by JS above are consistent with my own observation of a particularly nasty pair of hooked cerci snapping at me a few hours ago, and that probably could not have reached the abbreviated/modified wings of the full-grown creature. In fact, I wonder if the unsourced statement "There is no evidence that they transmit disease or otherwise harm humans...." should also be removed. As noted elsewhere in this discussion, they do sometimes crawl into the ear canal, and could theoretically perforate an eardrum (or precipitate a coronary if you saw one crawling out of your ear...) TVC 15 11:25, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] change of sex?

I've heard a rumor about they change sex from male to female. Is that true? Kewangji 12:58, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Earwigs and the ear

Someone had vandalised the article with this:

"Insert: – — … ° ≈ ± − × ÷ ← → · § Sign your name: Glb310 08:03, 1 October 2006 (UTC) *** Myth Buster. One day I felt a painful pinching feeling and dull “cloudy” sound (from movement of its feet) and applied a heating pad and then went to bed. When I turned over my girlfriend, who was watching over me, saw a bug exit my left ear and caught it inside of a jar. We later identified it as an earwig. We believe it entered my ear something during the day while riding in a convertible. Thank you."

I removed the vandalism. Obviously this guy thinks he's good to have a convertible.

Anyway, I thought I'd put the claims in here as a test.

~~not sure who wrote the above comments, TVC 15 comments start below~~

Although the narrative above sounds like original research (not allowed because not linkable), it may have a basis in truth. I'm adding a sourced statement that earwigs probably do crawl into the ear, since they like hiding in dark moist places.[3] In addition, if the bug crawled in backwards or somehow got turned around in the ear canal, those pincers could easily perforate the eardrum. I'm not suggesting that would actually happen, and the myth about laying eggs in the brain is reportedly only a myth, but the bugs are reportedly omnivorous and the idea of having one in the ear is understandably scary. I've just caught one in my bedroom in the middle of the night, crawling down the wall, and even though I squashed it nearly an hour ago the cerci are still reaching out and pincing. TVC 15 09:08, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Update July 26, 2007: An anonymous editor recently deleted my sourced statement that earwigs probably do crawl into the ear. (S)he claimed they don't, saying there have been studies, but provided no links to such studies. I have restored the sourced statement that they probably do, because it is linkable and consistent with others' reported experience. (Also, I'm not sure how a study could prove they don't crawl into the ear. Would you put a subject's head into a box full of earwigs and wait to see if any crawl into the ear? I'm not volunteering for that study!)

I also deleted the misleading statement that an insect could not burrow through a skull in its lifetime. If you look at a skull, you may observe there are holes for the auditory canals:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Human_skull_lateral_view.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ear-anatomy.png

So, an insect would not need to burrow through the skull. Earwig pincers could easily perforate the tympanic membrane (eardrum), and then the omnivorous bug could conceivably crawl through. I am not saying it would do that, I am only saying it would not need to burrow through solid bone.

In my opinion, the bottom line on ears and etymology is this: earwigs probably have been crawling into people's ears at least occasionally over the centuries, and if you are a medieval farmer and you see one of these things crawling out of your head, you'll absolutely wig out. Hence the name, earwig.TVC 15 10:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] tip on getting rid of them

"Putting vegetable oil in a pie tin and burying it up to the rim of the tin is an effective way of capturing them. The oil can then be reused in the tin after disposing of the earwigs."

Um, is this really sanitary? The reusing the oil part. Should that even be included? This is an encyclopedia, not a guide on how to be miserly. Robin Chen 07:36, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

I think what they mean is you can reuse the oil to catch more earwigs. --Kmsiever 16:28, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Live without food?

How long can a earwig resist without food. I caught one in one of my books and kept it in a bottle. Today, it's a week since then, and it's still alive and kickin'. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 89.165.146.90 (talk) 08:06, 16 December 2006 (UTC).

It's been 8 days since I trapped it in the bottle. I think it's dead: no move whatsoever. Should I assume they can live about a week without food or water?

I was wrong. It's not dead. It's alive, I guess. Those cercis are still moving. However, the rest of the body does not appear to be alive. Could this be some kind of reflex?

Please read Wikipedia's policy on original research. You can conclude what you like, but any results of your experiments cannot be included in Wikipedia unless and until they are published. --Stemonitis 15:36, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology

Do we want to put in the etymology? Middle English erwig, from Old English arwicga : are, ear ; wicga, insect; see wegh- in Indo-European roots

[edit] Are they hitch hikers?

My bird feeder (in Colorado, USA)is suspended in such a way that that the 3 to 5 earwigs I find there each week could only have hitched a ride on the sparrows that visit or fly themselves there. Is it likely that they will fly to get to a bird feeder filled with, among other things, shelled sunflower seeds? 71.229.163.5 Doug 9/14/07 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.229.163.5 (talk) 16:25, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Don't underestimate the climbing abilities of earwigs. Still, how is your birdfeeder suspended?--Mr Fink 16:29, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply. In answer to your question above: It hangs by a 14-guage wire from a 2-foot iron bar attached and pointed away from the railing of a redwood deck on 4x4 supports off the second-story of my home about 15 feet away from the wall of the house. The feeder is at least 18 feet off the ground and the birds perch (slipping all the time) on the iron bar. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.229.163.5 (talk) 14:20, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

Maybe you could keep them out by smearing vaseline on the wire every so often?--Mr Fink 14:43, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

I'll try the vaseline on the rod that the birds perch on too... for the entertainment value! :-) Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.253.96.50 (talk) 19:43, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] semi-protection?

There seem to be quite a few acts of vandalism to this article. I counted roughly 40 occurrences of either 'rvt', 'undid', or 'revert' in the last 150 edits. This is approximately 27%, which is significantly higher than the 5% protection guidelines mention. This abuse seems endemic to the article due to the perceived 'ickiness' of the subject matter. Most reverted edits are anonymous. Might requesting indefinite semi-protection be an idea? Evlshout (talk) 12:25, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] smell

does anyone else think that the distinct smell of earwigs should be on this? it is highly unpleasant —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.209.100.102 (talk) 05:23, 22 May 2008 (UTC)