Influence of diet on development and oviposition of Forficula auricularia (Dermaptera: Forficulidae)

Abstract

In North America, the life cycle of the European earwig (Forficula auricularia L.) can be divided into a nesting phase (hypogean phase) and a free-foraging phase (epigean phase) (Crumb et al. 1941; Behura 1956; Lamb and Wellington 1975). Adults spend the nesting phase in the soil; females burrow into the ground at the onset of the cold weather, lay eggs, and then care for the eggs. Hatching occurs in spring; first- or second-instar nymphs move to the soil surface for the free-foraging period. The earwig, a nocturnal insect, spends the entire daylight period of hiding under trash or in dark crevices. Where two broods occur, females reenter the ground a second time (Lamb and Wellington 1975). Stomach content analyses (Crumb et al. 1941; Sunderland and Vickerman 1980) and food preference tests (McLeod and Chant 1952; Buxton and Madge 1976) revealed that the European earwig is omnivorous. Under laboratory conditions, nymphs fed freshly frozen aphids, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), survive better than those fed green algae or carrots, develop faster, and produce heavier females (Phillips 1981; Carrillo 1985).