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3 to other plants. On the other hand, the principal native
animal food taken was aphids. Guppy (1946) found that earwigs can be kept from
cannibalism by providing them with almost any common herbaceous plant
although they prefer certain varieties to others. During experiments at Puyallup, Washington in which 590
possible attractants for earwigs were tested by Crumb, Eide and Bonn (1941),
eleven substances consistently attracted most earwigs and all of them were of
an oily or greasy nature. From the
standpoint of effectiveness and economy, fish oil seemed the most practical
attractant to incorporate into poison baits. The normal
number of broods per year is two. One
occurs in the early spring and the second sometime in the late spring or
early summer (Beall, 1932 and Crumb, 1941).
Guppy (1946) reports that in the Northwest a third brood may be
produced but only exceptionally. Hibernation occurs during the cold winter months, but
the duration of hibernation and proportion of earwigs hibernating varies with
the locality.
Observations made in western Washington by Crumb in 1941 indicate that a large percentage of females will appear
above the ground after a long rainy spell during their normal hibernation
period. Guppy, in 1946, found that the European earwig must
have a very moist habitat for the eggs and young nymphs to survive. Adults that are kept in a dry locality, and.
which are not given succulent food, will drink liberally on coming into
contact with water. The European earwig's reluctance
for flight was noted by Blathwayt in 1892. Collings, in 1908, states that
flight occurs only on rare occasions.
On the other hand, evidence that the earwig never flies was given by
Verhoeff in 1917. Flight habits were observed by Richter. |