The Brain-Boring Earwig

http://www.nobuggy.com/blog/earwigs-are-awful-this-year

     When I starting reading Berenbaum's book, The Earwig's tail: A Modern Bestiary of Multi-legged Legends, even the title freaked me out. I have had a fear of Earwigs ever since I was a child, so of course the chapter titled "The Brain-Boring Earwig" scared me to death. The reason being because when I was little, I had an Earwig crawl inside my ear, and stay for a while. I had to end up going to the doctor to get it out. Ironic as it is, the doctor was scared of insects, and had a hard time pulling out the Earwig that was pinching my ear. The chapter discusses the origin of how the Earwig got its name, and why people believe that Earwigs attack people's ears. 

     According to Berenbaum, Earwigs are so unusual they have their own group, called the Dermaptera, which literally means, “skin wing” They are called this because of their thin, flesh-looking front wings. Earwigs are also notoriously known for their pinchers, which are located on the abdomen. They are mostly either black or brown, and try to stay out of the way. What is funny is what people think whenever they hear the common name of an earwig.

 Earwigs get their name from a word from Old English, Ear Wicga, and it translates to Ear Wiggler. People are almost automatically afraid of them because their name suggests that they will get inside your ear and make a home, eat your brains, or lay their eggs for their young to sprout about inside your head forever.

     

     This however is untrue. Although I have had an Earwig inside my ear, after reading Berenbaum’s book, I found that Earwigs normally only stay in damp and musty areas, and they will not procreate in an area that is unfit for their young, such as an ear canal. The most common insect actually found inside people’s ears is actually the common Cockroach, not an Earwig.

     According to this website, EarWigs are as likely to get inside your ears as any other bug, and should not cause alarm in you thinking they are dangerous to your brain. They mostly eat certain types of fruit, not flesh. This makes me feel a whole lot better about the insect that is called the Earwig.

Another interesting fact about the Earwig is another idea of where their moniker could have come from. The back wings of the Earwig, when stretched out, look somewhat like the shape of an ear. This could have been the whole reason as to why they are called an Earwig. It would be a whole lot better of a reason- for humans and Earwigs- for them to have truly gotten their name this way. 

** All information, except the information from the website, was taken from chapter three: "The Brain-Boring Earwig", from the book The Earwig's Tail: A Modern Bestiary of Multi-legged Legends by May R. Berenbaum. **