Forficula auricularia

Forficula auricularia is a species complex comprising the common earwig. It is also known as the European earwig. It is an omnivorous insect belonging to the family Forficulidae. The name earwig comes from the appearance of the hindwings, which are unique in their resemblance to human ears when unfolded. The species name of the common earwig, auricularia, is a specific reference to this feature. The European earwig survives in a variety of environments. It is also a common household insect in North America. They are often considered a household pest because of their tendency to invade crevices in homes and consume pantry foods, though they may also act as beneficial species depending on the circumstances.

Forficula auricularia

Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ForficulaPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Arthropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Insecta

Time the record covers

At most 1.7 million years on record.

The one occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 1.8 Mya and 129 ka, which is a dating window rather than a span.

Pleistocene — about 1 of 1 occurrencePleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 1 occurrence1.8–1.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.8–1.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.7–1.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.6–1.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.5–1.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.5–1.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.4–1.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.3–1.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.2–1.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.1–1.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.1–997 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences997 ka–920 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences920 ka–843 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences843 ka–767 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences767 ka–690 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences690 ka–613 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences613 ka–537 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences537 ka–460 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences460 ka–383 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences383 ka–307 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences307 ka–230 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences230 ka–153 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences153 ka–77 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.3 Mya0 Mya

1 occurrence of Forficula auricularia on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Castle Eden Fissure-Fill — 54.74°N, 1.33°W

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The named rock units Forficula auricularia has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Forficula auricularia and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Forficula auricularia and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

10 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 1 site for Forficula auricularia, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

1 reference

Each of the 1 occurrence read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Forficula auricularia

Credit
Rhododendrites
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itForficula through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linnaeus 1758