Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/635

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error arising in the first instance probably from their invariable habit of secreting themselves in any cavity, of which they always endeavour to reach the innermost re cess (instances being known of the common species hiding itself in the ear of a person sleeping in the open air), and strengthened by the popular exaggerated idea of the strength

and attributes of the anal forceps peculiar to these insects.


Earwigs have been for some time of uncertain position in classifi cation, having been even considered as worthy of the rank of a spe cial separate order (Labidoures, Dumeril ; Dermaptera, corrected to Dermatoptera, Leach ; and Euplexoptera, corrected to Euplectoptera, Westwood), but they are now generally recognized as forming a family, Forftculidcs or Forficularias, of the Orthoptera (the Locusts, Grasshoppers, Crickets, Cockroaches Mantis, &c.) They have much the facies of the Brachelytra or Stnphylinidce in the Coleoptera (Beetles), from which order they differ in their pupa being active, resembling the perfect insect except in possessing only rudimentary wings, &c. ; also in the method of folding and neuration of the hinder wings, the possession of an anal forceps, and, as in the other Orthoptera, in the additional external lobe to their maxillae. From all the other Orthoptera, apart from the anal forceps, they differ in having horizontal elytra covering the wings in repose as in beetles, and in the female not possessing a corneous ovipositor, and from most of them in the hind legs being not formed for jumping.

Of distinct species 250 are recognized, comprised in 34 genera (of which some are apparently needless) ; but it is highly probable that this represents a mere outline of the group, as scarcely any naturalists make them an object of study, and their geographical distribution is very extended. There are about 200 species in the collection of the British Museum alone, mostly unnamed, and not specially collected. They are found in the whole of Europe, in Syria and Asia Minor, Central Asia, Hindustan, Ceylon, Indo-China, China and Formosa, the Malay Archipelago, the Philip pines, North, West, and South Africa to the Cape itself, Egypt, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Karntchatka, Newfoundland, the North American States from New York to California (but comparatively rare, according to Packard), Mexico, Florida, Central America and the West Indies, South America from Columbia to Chili, New Guinea, North Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand ; and species occur in such isolated localities as Madeira, the Canaries, St. Helena, Woodlark Island, the Solomon and Sandwich Isles, and Kergue- len s Island. As regards pre-historic times, a few fossil species have been found in the territories of Solenhofen, (Eningen, and Italy in the Old World, and of the Rocky Mountains (Colorado) in the New. Seven species have been recorded from Great Britain, of which two are universally common, viz., Forficula auricularia, the typical earwig, and the smaller Labia minor. The former of these is found all over Europe, in Armenia, the Caucasus, and other parts of Asia, and in the eastern United States, being also recorded from Japan ; and the latter occurs in Europe, Western Asia, and North America. Another species, Labidura riparia, extends over the entire Old World.


All are of comparatively small size, and nearly all of ob scure colours, mostly various shades of brown or dull yellows and reds : one South American species is white ; another, from the Amazon, has blue metallic elytra, which are metallic also in another from Penang; a fourth exotic species is yellow, with black stripe ; and several have opaline or iridescent wings. Eccentricity of development is shown chiefly in the forceps, which in a Nicaraguau species are as long as the rest of the body ; in another South American form the abdomen is laterally toothed ; a third has very long legs, being almost tipuliforin; Apachys has the body as thin as cardboard.

Sexual differences are shown in the male by the greater development and armature of the forceps, or the tubercu- lated abdomen, which is composed of nine distinct segments, whereas only seven are evident in the female. The forceps have been observed to be used in arranging the wings, and are also supposed to be used as weapons of offence and defence, though it is difficult to understand how they could be of any practical assistance for either purpose. The lower wings have long attracted attention from their unexpectedly large size and fan-like structure; in the accompanying figure, a is the magnified open wing of the common earwig, 6 the same of the natural size, and c the wing closed, also of natural size. Although posvsessed of such ample organs of flight, Forficula Wing of Earwig. auricularia has seldom, if ever, been observed to make use of them, though there is evidence that it does fly ; but the other common British species, Labia minor, is frequently seen on the "wing, being often mis taken for a brachelytrous beetle. It may be observed, that the possession of wings is apparently sexual in some cases, and that some species are entirely apterous.



Wing of Earwig.


Some few instances have been recorded of earwigs being carnivorous, devouring the larvae and pupas of wild bees and even their own species; but the majority are in a normal state certainly eaters of vegetable matter, congre gating under bark, and destroying flowers, fruit, <kc., often to a considerable extent. An instance of their adaptability to circumstances is afforded by Mr H. W. Bates s discovery of a large white species (above referred to) very common on white sandy beaches of the Brazilian river Para, at Caripl, with a white Tetracha and a white mole cricket ; this white ness was permanent, and must not be confused with the light colour of recently disclosed individuals.

The female of the common earwig has long been noted for an exhibition of remarkable maternal instinct in defend ing her progeny, not only brooding over her eggs, but caring for her newly hatched young.


The chief writers on Forficulidce are Dohrn, in the Stettintr entomologische Zeitung for 1862 and following years, and qnite recently, S. H. Scudder, in the Proceedings of the Boston Natural History Society, vol. xviii., the latter being the first to discuss these insects in a collective form.

(e. c. r.)

EASEMENT, in English law, is a species of servitude or limited right of use over land belonging to another. It is distinguished from a profit, which is a right to take the soil of another, while an easement is a right to use the soil or the produce of the soil in a way tending to the more convenient enjoyment of another piece of land. Thus a right of way is an easement, a right of common is a profit. Besides rights of way the most important easements are water-courses (as where a person has a right to divert a flow of water), the right to discharge water, &c., upon a neighbour s land, and the right to restrain such a use of land as would obstruct the access of light and air to an ancient window.

EASTBOURNE, a watering-place on the Sussex coast, 66 miles from London by railway. It is situated about three miles to the east of Beachy Head, the loftiest head land on the English Channel. It once consisted of three parts: the old village of East Bourne, a mile inland; South Bourne, lying back from the shore; and Seahouses, facing the beach; but these distinctions are now almost obliterated, and numerous handsome terraces and detached houses have more or less united the three old hamlets into one town. Besides the parish church of St Mary s, a building of some antiquity, there are four chapels of ease in Eastbourne. A pier was erected in 1868. The popu lation, which is rapidly increasing, was 10,361 in 1871.

EASTER, the annual festival observed throughout Christendom in commemoration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, The word Easier Anglo-Saxon, Easfre, Hosier ; German, Ostern like the names of the days of the week, is a survival from the old Teutonic mythology. According to Bede (De Temp. Rat., c. xv.) it is derived from Eostre, or Ostdra, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, to whom the fourth month, answering to our April thence called Eostur-monath was dedicated. This month, Bede informs us, was the same as the " Mensis Paschalis," when " the old festival was observed with the gladness of a new solemnity."