About Dermaptera
Earwigs
There are about 1,300 species of earwig described worldwide, seven of which occur
in central Europe. They are hemimetabolous (they do not have a pupal stage in their
development). Usually they have wings; the forewings form short hard wing cases,
the hind wings are transparent and membranous and are folded in a complicated fan-pattern
under the wing cases. To unfold the hind wings, earwigs lift up their wing cases
and unfold the hind wings with the aid of their pincers. The pincers of earwigs
are modified cerci, they are usually bigger in males and are used for many different
purposes in addition to unfolding the wings (attack and defence, grabbing prey and
mating).
Reproduction
Males and females approach each other backwards, the male lifting the female abdomen
with his pincers. The female lays eggs in a chamber in the ground and tends them
(removing fungal spores and defending the eggs against predators). Some species
feed the hatchlings. Wiglets go through 4-5 instars before reaching maturity.
Links
Wikipedia article on Dermaptera