XEROXED 10

THE BIONOMICS Of THE EUROPEAN EARW~G

Forficuia avrkularia (L)

IN ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND, 1970-1972

CENTRE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND STUDIES

TOTAL OF 10- PAGES ONLY MAY BE XEROXED

(Without Author's Permission)

ROBERT CARL GRIMES

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. · The Bi.

onomics of the

Europ~an

earwig Forficu1a auricularia (L.)

in

.St.

John's·, Newfoundland,

1970

1972

.:

,

by

Rober.:t Carl:

·

Grimes·· .

I II·

I

·A

Thesis

.

⁽

' .

. submi~ted

in partial fulfillment of, the requirements for

.. the degree. of. ·,

'.

. · Maste·r

of Science

.. : ..

Oepar~nt

of Biology.

Memorial University of

·

Newfoundland

··.

St. John's,

~wfoundland

April,

1~74

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

.

^{. ·}

r •

\ Distribution and spread .

Se~sonal history

·Food habits and economic importance Control

· Origin of the name

I .

Mat~rials and methods

. ,

. .

· Collecting sites· .

~ .

Traps · .- · ·

••

^(•

Sa11Jple analysis

. Capture-recaptu~e experiment

. Results

• !

Trap catch~s

Proportions of the _sexes :;

' \

(

Male dimorphij. .- · · Capture-recapture experiment

. l

Discussfon ..

Seasonal history ·.·

•

Trap_ ~atches.

.

,

Proportion of t~e .sexes ... Male dimorphism

. .

· · Capture-recapture experimen~ _:.

. . • . :" . , . I .

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·page 1

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2

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3 3

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42 42

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·summary

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^'•

References

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Ap.pendix

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fable 1 Table· ·2

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. Table · 3 . ^'

. . l . .. Table. 4

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·Table 5

Table'· 6

Table 7

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Table 9

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,, _·.,

. LIST. ·qF TABLES ' . ·

I _. I • ' .... · . ·. ....

, ..

..

_'

.

_. . .. . .,

Characters used in distingui.s.hirig. n_ympha·l instars.

( • : ~ •• l -

Su~ary of marking scheme use~ in ~xp,er.imeRt-wi,th. in'divid~~lly. .

, • • " 1

_·marked .earwigs.

I' f

. • c ' . • .

. Number's of !'Ymplts and adui ts as ;percentages ·of tota 1 nymphs· . a~~ adul ts· .. r;espectively in .~amples taken ·.on ,variou.s dates ,.

' .l

in 1971 from site 1.

\·

Numbers of hym~hs and adults as· percentages or ~ota 1 nymphs . and adults

respectiv~l'y

in samples taken on. va\"ioJs' 'dates · ..

' : ~ ' -~ :.

0 • '

in 1971 from site 4.

. ^' '•

" . ^{~ '} . .

..

. ·Numbers of nymphs and adu 1 ts as percentages of tota 1 nymphs · · .

. . .• ' ..

and adults· respectively· in samples taken .. on ·~arious da'tes . .·

' -

Jn

.

1971 from site^. -5.

.,

Summary of dates·of peaks of abun~anc~ for the four nymphal

.

.

^{. .} '·

.. i(lstars at sites 1, · 4 ·and. 5 for 1971 .

. .

I ...

..

'•

.

^'

. .

.

^.

Summary of estima~es of the ave~age ins~ar duration (i~ d~ys) ,

. .

..

^{.: .}

of the_ four nymphal i~stars· at 'site's. 1, 4 and· .5 for -1971.

' . . .

four nympha 1 . ins tars· at sites ·1 , · 4· ·and 5 for 1971.

• l " I

Peaks of ~bundance for-~he variou$ nymphal instars for both

• ' ' I -

: : ^{' I .}

first and ~econd,broods from site 1· for 1971.

• • • oOC>.

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T~ble 10

" ~ ..

• I

'

^{Table 11}

-:-Table 12

. ..

·' Table 13

... · ..

.... ^{, '}

.

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rr ·.

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.·

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·Numbers of nymphs and adults_. . as percentages .of total nymphs.

.

··

. ^' .

and a.dults respectj vely in samples taken on various. dates.

in ·.-·1972 from

s · ;'ie

^1.

\ . ^' . ⁽ '

,

^{. .}

. Comparison·of rates of de_ve1opment :for, three nymph_al instars

' . '

., '

for l971_. . and 1.972 _I at site

•

1.

. . .. .

Average dai]Y=trap catches for 1~7l from the._l3 collecting skesin.St ..

_John's~- .

^{. . .}

Fo~tni

^gtit;y

a~erage

^{.. trap}

catch~s

^for

^{. a} si:t"~ ^I

^at :st ': Jo.hn ° s :

~·

^.

during the period June 1'5 _to September 15, 1971_.

\

.... Table 15 ~vercrge daily trap catches at site 1 May to October, 1971.

]

^{. ~}

-

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Table 16

. ^.

.-Average da.i_ly trap catches at site 1 Jaly to Septem~er, 1972.

Table 17 · Indi vi dua 1 trap counts for sj te 1 for July 6 and October 15,

'tg;-: · .

^1.971. • h) • ^"

, , (·

Table 18' . • Comparison of average trap catches for. sites .1, 5 and 9 for 1,971 and 1972.

•' ' ^{', ·,}

. Table· 19- Re,.sults .. of. baited vs.- non-baited traps· at six St. John's .

"' sHes

d~·ring 1970. '

I

. Table 20 ~ex ra'tios ·o~ lJ cQllecting sites :at St. John's during 1971. ·

·' .

Ta~1e 21 · A ~omp~_rison. of th~ sex ratios of new ^{. '} ~dults for f.1ve_ c~mp~r.:

'. 0

able. sampling dates in 1971 and 1972 at 'site 1.

· .

-~9-

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Table 22

r.--

Table 23 Table 24

. Table 25

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~ Tabl¢ of a~alysis of va_riance for a comparison of the ~ex·· ..

ra~ios

^of

ne~

·adults for 5_

compara~l.:.

^-sampl

i· n~ d~tes i~

1971 and 1972 at. s.ite 1. ,· .. · .

I

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Overall. proportions of the sexe~ at' site 1· for 197.1 and 1972.

'

.

' '

... ..

~ '

.

Percent males w1th short forceps of t~tal adult males captured-

I ' ' \ ' . . . . I '

for 1971 and 1972. ~-- - ^' \

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·,!able of analysis of variance for percent males with short for-·

• ' r .4 • •

'

.

ceps of total adult males capture.dJor _{• • . .... ' .. ..., ~} 3 ~ollecting _{~ . t} sites for-

1971 and 1972. ^t.:.

Tab.le

26 · f

Percent males ~ith short forcep~ of-total adult males· captured

•'

Table 27

,,

.

^;.

for 13 collecting sites for 1971 . .. .

.

.

. Population .estimates and densities for

3

sampjing periods

' . .

f . / . .·

~ :

during September and October l97l at site 1:

.,

• • ~· • j .,. '

•

•••

,•

...

. Fig~ 1 .

\

Fig. 2

· ,. Fig. 3

Fig. 4 '

I '

Fig. 5

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IV

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^{LIST OF FIG~RES ..} . ^,.

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...

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Map of St .. Joh.n's' sho~ing.the distribution._of the ·13 col.lecting sites sampled ·for Fo~ficula auricularia (L.) 19l0 - 1972 .

. ,e

Gropv.ed .boa:rd tra~ for co 11 ectiY1g F. auri.cu 1 ari ci ( L.}, _:

J •

Grooved boar<!,. trap ·set in. posjti'on ..

.. • • • J

... .

Transfer of ea_rwigs from trap to plastic ba·g.

.

r.•

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Vari abi 1

Hy

in F. a uri cul aria · forceps.~ ·

~ .

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Experimental design for using marked individual_s of

... . ^{' ) ...}

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F. auricul ati a, site

i,

^September 1971.

.. .

.

.

'

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. •.

. .

Positioning of· 22 of 33' traps used to re·captu~"' individual ·

~ . ^{· .} ·earwigs at site 1;Se~tember

^1971.

Fig. 8

Fig. 1'0

'I

Fig •. 11

'C'J •

· Fig. 1.2 .,

• ..

I •

6

\ ~ . Seasona 1: p'ea ks of the 'fout nympha 1 stages at site ·1, May , to·

August 1971; site

.4

~ June to September 1971: site 5, June

·. J ··.. . ·.

to September 1971 ; and s 1 te 1, May to August 1972. · ·

j . . • . • . . ·• :. . .

; ^~ .

Ave~a 9 ^{e ~aily.; trap}

catches for

197~

^·for

1i

^co1.1ectin9 sites·

· in

St. John's.

Ave~ag~ trap .~atches· on various sampling ,dates ~n 1971 fr:-om ..

site 1.

. .·

Averag~ _, trap. _\ ·catches ·on various samplfng _{• r •}

· sites .·2,' 4, 5 , 6; · 7; · 8. ·

. I . I, !1

Aver~ge

^trap

~atches

·on, various· sampling sites 9, 10, 11, ·12, 13, 3.

I " :' • "

. ' .

,11" .-

dates.: in 1971' f'rom

·-....:---· . ^_..,._)

, . . -;. ' ~ ,' 'I ,

dates in 1971 from

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS' ... ^I

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1_ to

~hank

Professor_.

J?~n Phipps~~t~r -~i ~ ~ui.- danc: ~

-sup_port )nd · . amiable··company dur:ing the course of th,is' ~~~-~Y· . · . · :· · ..

~'\\''Z! .

, .

-- .x: . . . , · .. .

. . My~ appreciation also to· Mr. Carm Rockwell of Modern Pest Control for.

.

hi~ :dvl~e

^{on the}

seiecti.~n·of

^the

d~~~ctin~ ~ites w;thl~

^the

ky ^~f·

^..

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' • . .I

··St. John's. Also to the mariy city residents w~o a.llowed m~ to invade .. ^I

' • •. . q ~

the privacy_ of 'their gardens.

•·

^{. '}

• ; • f ... •

Thanks are alSo due to the foll~wing· ind_ividuals in the Biology De-.

. . .

.

^{. .}

"

^{. .}

. partment, _{. .} Memo~ial Unive~ity of ~ewfotlndland.·: Mr. . ·Eugene'F.itzgerald

.

^{.. .} -for ^{. · ~..}

^~

^.

· ·.

· s~

many deeds' too numerou.s_ to .mention; ·Mr • . Alex Coombs .for h1s prepara_t1on

. . .

· ,

• I ' \ '. ' • . '

of marking materials; Mr. Chester Rowe· for his assistance in _~ f~n~ing out-

of 1

• '-.. . , I • .

side sour~es of financial support; Miss Cynthia Long for her'expert

.

^' _,,

. ..

. ·assista~ce and 'advice in the. prepar-ation o( figures presented in :t;his

thesis; ·and Mr. Roy Ficken for his' assistance-with the 'photographic work. .. __....-

• t •: ' • , . t ·' : • • , · .,• I • .: ' ' ' \~ ^• ~ ^•

I') ,

Thanks are also du~ to-·o.r~ George Moskovit's, tiiology Department·, for his ·su~_gest~ons ~egarding marking materi'als;. and Dr .. Y.A.S. Eipara for· his checkfng • of th~- s_tat_i sties: ·

' '

Many thanks are also due 'to Mr. Paul Tholl!p~on

..

for.his assistance with photo·graphic ·Work. and helpful suggestions. · '

• ,. .. '1 •

My .apprec-iation also ta Memorial _Uriivers1tY of

Ne~oundl~nd.

^and

the

P~ovinciai Government for suppo~t during the ~ourse.of the ·study.

I . .

..

Finally, and foremost, to Trilby", Stephen, an~ Andrew~

.

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. INTRODU. CTION ·

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It js _

·

gener.jlly-

·

believed that earwigs. were introduced into st. ^John•s,

'

.

.... . ' .

Newfoundland ' du~ing the early 1940s either in shipinents of lumber .from

· .

~

' • ' • ' , \ • I

British Columbia

·or .by British naval ships dur.ing the second.World·War. Not·

. .

l,lntiJ 1962 dig the population reach·alarming proportions in one partic::ular

.~ection 'of the city,

possibly c

_

aused by an tmusy· ally mild w1nter.

J 1-,.

l.

"'

i~e··: obje~.t o{the\tudy was to ·~i- ~ve~ how · ~ar

^..

~·~rw1'gs ha~e ·s~read

^{in .. ·.'}

I

st: John •

·

s, ·

~h~re ~!le

heaviest infestations are and to investigate the

..

1 ife

:

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---

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.

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·.·

his tor --an~mpare it with that in other parts of

..

the. ~orld'. It was. further

•. • ' . ' • I •· ' ' , . ,. I ' •

intended to . compare

.

the

· f!'eque~cy.

of the. t"rJo forms of rna 1 es with that found

.

_,.

r·

'

elsewhere· .

,

•\ ;

Oistri but ion and Spread

,. ' . ^{• • ~ r • : I • • •}

·

The

.'

European earwig is

·

native throughout .Europe and

w~stern

!\sia and

' -

-

'" r

·

· possibly in northern Africa. It

-'

has 'been

.

introdu· ced into East

.Africa~ th~

. r . . . . . . .

. ..

. .

. ·.

'I '

' . ^'

"•'•

. ^.

.

. East Indies, New Zeala·

nd,

· ~as.mania:·

Australia

-

and more· recently into Nor' th Ameri.ca.

1941).

. ' I

It was .first not. ed in Seattle, Washington in

_{. .}

-

^{, ,•} 1907

(Crur.nb et.' al.

^.

.

^.

...

Although possessing

well-·d~veloped-

wings,' the. ear-Wig

r~rely

flies:

. ^~

Its method of spread

. relies. almost entirely on transpo~·tation by man. .Being a

. . .

nocturnal

·

insect it htdes anywhere by

d~y

.

·

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and as a resu 1 t may be c-arried

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.

^{. -}

long

'distances; Ships • c~rgoes

are often

.

infested,

e~pecially

lumb, er

.or·. u ,

. ^{~ '} . .

' • • • • • \ • ' , ' • • ~ ^r

.

flowers.

·

Earwigs have been

~nown ·

to be trarisported_long-distances

·

in

\

.. ~~ b'undl e; of newspapers, the lu~g~ge ~f . ~fa¥~le~ packages and'· - ~rate·s

^·

^ot

merchandise· , by automobiles and even

i~ mailed· l~tt'ers. '

'

...

Sea sbna

1

His tory

' _.<

.

^~

The~~ are six stagesJ in the ·life cycle of the'Europea· n earwig

·.-

• ~ - .~ • 0 j'

egg, four nymphal

·_·instars and adult. The life span· of the femaJ'e is

. . • I

• 0

slightly longer than that of the male, both

_

living apprm<i'mately one

y~.·

! . \

I , I

f f

• . . 6

Eggs are usually laid. in the soi.l at a depth of 2 -

3•inches~

In the 'faJl

~- femal~s,

usually ac¢ol!lpanied by a

mal~,

ent_ er the· soil to excavate

.

a

.riest~

The eggs (40 -

90}

·are laid in the cavity during the

··

·'

fall

.-

o~ early spring. The male

.

·is 'evicted from

.

th. e nest just prior to

, .

' .

ovi

P.OSi~ion. ·The fenial e: protecfs and cares fat the eggs an~

the young

• t • • f • •J

.

unti 1 ·the nymphs

· are ready to leave the riesv.

' . '• .

. a

. ^'

. ·l - . ~/ .

. ^{/ ' . . '} .

Ha

·

tching take's place .somefi!lle in spri, n

_

g,

.

nymp_ hs appearing on the s,ur.-

.

^{' ~ ' . . -'.. . ,., .}

face a short

:while later.

to search ' fpr their own

_

food during th~ night· .

· ..

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Some females re-enter the- soil .to deposit a -second batch of eggs· , the. se

· · . ·

• I • I • . • / •\ •

hatching in . the early part of the sunmer.

·Adults from the first bro'od.

• . - ..; • • .. ' • • . t •

; '1 • • • # •

appear Ht mid-summer, ad'-'1 ts from the second brood in

·

1 ate sui11Jier.

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" Food habits anad Econ~mi ~ im·portance ·

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·rtie earwig is omnivorous~ ·ahho-ugh most of the food .fs derived from

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plant" sources: Most of the, fo~d is' dea~ wh~n· ~a:en .Y~~ th~ __ e,~rwl~ ·~s : . , also. known to be P,red_aceous on smaller insects, spiders and mite ·c~an~ .

·fooa · ;~-~1udes

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. g'rasse~, vario~s cer~als,

ftuit, vegetables

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:: and fl o\.iers. onditions it .sometimes d1splays cannibali.~tn.

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· -·:·Economically the is· ~apable of ··causi'ng serio~s damage 'to crops ·

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ye_.t··?e1dom does (Cr~mb et •.. al. .1~41_} .. ·It has come into p~om·inence . largely. as a~householcj. pe~t _in· residential districts rather than as an

; • I ' ~ • : : o • ' • • •

i~9rtant cr:op pest. ·The presence of ^~arwi gs

i.n ·

1 arge nuf!1bers. ^do~s not

~.~ces~arily res~lt

ⁱⁿ

~,nj~ry

^{to crbps:}

Ih fact~ so~wg,;k~rs . th i nJ< _ th~

earwig 'is somewhat benefichl because of .its predatory ~abi~s (~rindley

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·· .1918, • Maclagan 1932). '

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Control ^{0 .} ' ^' .

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The Europeah ea~ig can usually be controlled by annua_l ·applications

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Of _variOUS chemi₀Cals, by 'reJli<?VCJ:l trapping, or a combi.nation' of both. ^{\1 ,•' •}

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_.:Biological control attemp..ts have· been- mostly unsuccessful . . . . .

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Thompson 1928,

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Crumb et .. al ~ · 1941 )·.

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Origin of the name ·

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The" name "earwig"· is derived from .the Anglo-Saxon word "ear~icga"

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meaning · .. ·e~r creature". Many variations exi sd "ohrwunn"or "ohrbohrer"

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(German) meaning "ear worm" or

"ea~·

^{boreru; .} "oorworm/' (Dutch), "ormask" '1.

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(Swedish), "gusano d~·l oido~' (Spanish), "venne.auricolare" (Italian), .all .meaning ¹¹ear 'worm";

"or~~ivist

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me~nin9

"earftwister";

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"perce-oreille" _{French) and' "fura .. ore)has" (Portuguese) nieaning ' · ·_ . . "Pill.rce-ear" (Fulton

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. It has .also been suggested .that .the 'word ."earwig" may h~ve·. arisen_":~'

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··from ·the~word "earwing" ,. referring· to the auricu-lar shap~ of th~· hind-

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The popular supe~s.tition tha~ earwigs crawl .into the ear and. bore into the brain is without foundation,. although. i.t is true that the

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huinan. ear cana~l ·appropriately accomodates. the thigmo~actic response

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characteristic of the. insect.·

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MATERIALS AND METHODS ';

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Collecting sites

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Twenty-five collecting sites were ~elec~ed wi_thin the citi::limits of St. John's . The.se s_ites were chosen

p~rtl_y

^th:ough

infor~~tia~· ;, sup~'-

. plied by, a local pest control company and partly through i~fo'rmatfon re-

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ceive.d

fr'Om.~ st:

John's residents. The distance

bet~ee~ : t.he ~ost

^easterly

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·and ~~~erJ~ ^{sites -was} ~.7 km.; between· the mdst northerly-and sout~erly

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sites~i21km. (Fig·,; 1).

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These sites were usually .standard-s-ize domestic city lots, grass-'.

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. . covere_d, containing various trees and usua_lly a number of flower beds . and garden s~eds~ Two traps per site w~re placed against·houses, sheds or tre~s, tn flower beds, fn hedges, near fences or ~herever a ·suitable

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location could be found. They were periodically moved from·place ·to

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~lace within the site, dep~nding upon the r~te of capt~re.

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Collections were made fr~m July ;to September~ 1970; . May to ·acto.ber

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-,1971; _and ~ul~\ to September 1972. Tr~ps were checked about twice

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wee~ ~epending upon .the weather_.~.

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Traps

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.The traps were constructed-_{. .} of two gtooved boards held together by . metal corners and heavy elastic bands • . The top piece measured' 304 X 90

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x 20

nm.-,

^'the bottom piece 330 x

9o

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io··nm.

~ro~ves ^{·6 x 10}

nm.

w~re ^{· ·,}

·cut in both top and -.~ott~m pieces wit~ 10 ITill. spacing between .. the grooves~

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Map of

St. ·

John's' showing'tl)e distribution·

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of_. ·the thirteen collecting sites sampled for _{- ;.}

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Forficula. auricularia (L·.) ,- 1970 · 19 172 ~-

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