Labidura riparia

Earwig ( Labidura riparia ) (male )

The earwig ( Labidura riparia ) is a representative of earwigs ( Dermaptera ) and belongs to the Labiduridae family. It is the only European species of species-poor genus Labidura.

Features

The earwig is approximately 26 mm long and has long, only slightly curved forceps. In the male they have behind the center of a small inner tooth, in the female they are almost completely straight and slightly curved only at the end. The antennae have 25 to 30 members. So far has not been established whether the earwig flies. However, his wings and flight muscles are relatively well educated, possibly only a part of the animals is like the commons catchy airworthy. The legs, pincers and the sides of the abdomen and the neck plate are yellowish deducted from the red-brown color. The species is very variable, so that many forms were originally described under different names.

Dissemination

The species is distributed worldwide and often, especially in the tropics, where their origin is likely to seek. In southern Europe, the earwig is widespread ( on islands ), north of the Alps, he is only to find locally, its range extends up to the North Sea. In Germany he was found mainly on the Baltic Sea and in Brandenburg, but also in the coal mining areas of Saxony; westward he goes about to Hamburg. In Austria there are occurrences in Vienna and at the Neusiedler See, in Switzerland Arve, Rhone and Ticino.

Way of life

The earwig lives primarily in moist, sandy soils of river and sea shores, but also in dry areas such as inland dunes, but only in wet ground. Suitable secondary habitats provide large opencast lignite mining. Its diet consists mainly of dead insects, also weakened live insects are occasionally captured. He puts burrows in the sand, which are distinguished by a characteristic triangular opening with a width of about three millimeters. Mostly, the passes will be only a few centimeters below the surface, for the winter but deeper passages to be dug up to two meters deep.

Reproduction

Mating takes place from May to September it will be stored for 60-90 eggs, which are carefully maintained. The larvae disperse after the first moult and create your own tubes. After about a hundred days, the animals are adults, if the molt yet taken place until September, otherwise they overwinter as larvae.