Extreme close up of an earwig (Forficula auricularia) with cerci raised in defensive posture.

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Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera, found throughout the Americas, Eurasia and Australia. It is one of the smaller insect orders, with only 1,800 recorded species in 12 families. Typical earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forceps-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folded underneath short forewings, hence the scientific name for the order, which translates literally as "skin wings".

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Size: 5100px × 3387px
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Photo credit: © Julian Brooks / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., ancient, antennae, arthropod, arthropoda, brown, cerci, cercus, chitinous, close-, closeup, compound, defence, dermaptera, dermapterae, earwig, eyes, face, forceps, harmless, head, insect, insecta, leaf, macro, micro, mythology, nocturnal, order, pincers, single, triassic