Species Forficula auricularia Linnaeus, 1758
European Earwig
- Forficula auricularia Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundem classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 10, 824 pp. [423].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH ♂, Europe (as Europa). - Forficula major De Geer, C. 1773. Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire des Insectes. I. Orthoptères. Stockholm : P. Hosselberg Vol. 3 ii 696 pp. 44 pls. [545].
Type data:
Syntype(s) NHRM (status unknown), locality unknown;
Status unknown, NHRM, locality unknown.Secondary source:
Steinmann, H. 1989. World Catalogue of Dermaptera. Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Publishers 934 pp. [811]. - Forficula dentata Fabricius, J.C. 1775. Systema Entomologiae, sistens Insectorum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, adiectis Synonymis, Locis, Descriptionibus, Observationibus. Flensburgi et Lipsiae [= Flensburg & Leipzig] : Kortii xxxii 832 pp. [Date published 17 April] [270].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH ♂, Madeira. - Forficula parallela Fabricius, J.C. 1775. Systema Entomologiae, sistens Insectorum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, adiectis Synonymis, Locis, Descriptionibus, Observationibus. Flensburgi et Lipsiae [= Flensburg & Leipzig] : Kortii xxxii 832 pp. [Date published 17 April] [270].
Type data:
Syntype(s) BMNH 2♀, Madeira; MCZ 2♀, Madeira. Type data:
Syntype(s) MCZ 2♂, West Indies.- Forficula neglecta Marsham, T. 1802. Entomologia Britannica, sistens Insecta Britanniae Indigena, secundum methodum Linnaenam. Tomus I. Coleoptera. London : Wilks et Taylor xxxi 547 pp. [529].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH, locality unknown. - Forficula media Marsham, T. 1802. Entomologia Britannica, sistens Insecta Britanniae Indigena, secundum methodum Linnaenam. Tomus I. Coleoptera. London : Wilks et Taylor xxxi 547 pp. [530].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH, Dartford, UK. - Forficula infumata Megerle von Mühlfield, J.K. 1825. [Description] p. 70 in de Charpentier, T. Horae Entomologicae. (Neuroptera, Orthoptera, Coleoptera). Wratislawiae : Gosohorsky. xvi 255 pp. 9 pls [70].
Type data:
Status unknown, whereabouts unknown, locality unknown.Secondary source:
Steinmann, H. 1989. World Catalogue of Dermaptera. Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Publishers 934 pp. [811]. - Forficula borealis Leach, W.E. 1835. [Description]. 5 in Stephens, J.F. (ed.). Illustrations of British Entomology, or a synopsis of indigenous Insects, containing their generic and specific Descriptions, with an account of their Metamorphosis, times of appearance, Localities, Food and Economy, as far as practicable, with coloured figures (from Westwood) of the rarer and more interested species. London : Baldwin & Cradock Vol. 6 240 pp. 7 pls. [Mandibulata. Dermaptera, Orthoptera, Neuroptera, Trichoptera] [5].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH ♂, N Europe (as Eur.bor.). - Forficula forcipata Stephens, J.F. 1835. Illustrations of British Entomology, or a synopsis of indigenous insects, containing their generic and specific descriptions, with an account of their metamorphosis, times of appearance, localities, food and economy, as far as practicable, with coloured figures (from Westwood) of the rarer and more interested species. London : Baldwin & Cradock Vol. 6 240 pp. 7 pls. [Mandibulata. Dermaptera, Orthoptera, Neuroptera, Trichoptera] [6].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH, locality unknown. - Forficula caucasica Kolenati, F.A. 1846. Dermaptera. Meletemata Entomologica. Insecta Caucasi. Coleoptera, Dermaptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, Mutillidae, Aphaniptera, Anoplura. Petropoli: Imperialis Academiae Scientiarum. Vol. 5. 69-79 pl. 17 [72].
Type data:
Syntype(s) ZML ♂ ♀ (depository uncertain), Kirovabad, Russia (as Tschaikent, montis Kaepes-Dagh, provincia Transcaucasica, Elisabethopol). - Forficula auricularia silanoides Karny, H. 1911. Ein interessanter Ohrsvurm aus Bosnien. Entomologische Rundschau 28: 159-160 [160].
Type data:
Holotype NHMW ♂, Tunisia (as Tunis).Secondary source:
Steinmann, H. 1989. World Catalogue of Dermaptera. Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Publishers 934 pp. [812].
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Bormans, A. de 1900. Forficulidae. Das Tierreich 11: 1-129 [122] (synonymy of Forficula major, Forficula dentata, Forficula parallela, Forficula neglecta, Forficula media, Forficula infumata, Forficula borealis and Forficula forcipata)
- Burr, M. 1911. Dermaptera. In Wystman, P. (ed.). Gen. Insect. 122: 1–112. [81, 82] (synonymy of Forficula caucasica)
- Brindle, A. 1981. The types of Dermaptera described by Fabricius. Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 1: 14-16 [15] (synonymy of Forficula elongata)
Distribution
States
Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria
Extra Distribution Information
Cosmopolitan.
IBRA
ACT, NSW, SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP)
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- South Australia: Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal
- Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
Ecological Descriptors
Arthropod-feeder, folivore, frugivorous, nocturnal, omnivore, predator, terrestrial.
Extra Ecological Information
Feeds on insect larvae, aphids, plant material, including fruit, accidentally introduced into cool temperate Australia.
General References
Bey-Bienko, G.J. 1936. Insectes Dermaptères. Faune de l'U.R.S.S NS 5: 1-239 [in Russian] [152, figs 45, 46] (description)
Brindle, A. 1969. The Dermaptera of the Azores and Madeira. Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal 21(103): 5-24 [15]
Dohrn, H. 1865. Versuch einer Monographie der Dermapteren. Stettiner Entomologische Zeitung 26: 68-99 [98]
Harz, K. & Kaltenbach, A. 1976. Dermaptera. Die Orthopteren Europas Series Entomol. 3: 1-434 [113] (Forficula silanoides as separate species)
Reichardt, H. 1971. Catalogue of New World Dermaptera (Insecta). Part IV: Forficularia. Papéis Avulsos do Departamento de Zoologia. São Paulo 24(12): 161-184 [170] (USA)
Sakai, S. 1982. A new proposed classification of the Dermaptera with special reference to the check-list of the Dermaptera of the World. Bulletin of Daito Bunka University. Tokyo 20: 1-108 [55] (list)
Sakai, S. 1995. Dermapterorum Catalogus. XXIX: Iconographia XIII. A Basic Survey for Integrated Taxonomy of the Dermaptera of the World. Tokyo : Ikegami Book Co. Vol. XXIX pp. 7812-8558. [7817, 7824 7851] (literature, synonymy, morphology, habitus)
Scudder, S.H. 1876. A century of Orthoptera. Decade V. Forficulariae (Exotic). Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 18: 251-257 [248] (list)
Scudder, S.H. 1876. Critical and historical notes on Forficulariae; including descriptions of new generic forms and an alphabetical synonymic list of the described species. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 18: 287-332 [311]
Steinmann, H. 1989. World Catalogue of Dermaptera. Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Publishers 934 pp. [526] (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement Forficula elongata as Spongiphora elongata)
Steinmann, H. 1989. World Catalogue of Dermaptera. Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Publishers 934 pp. [811] (catalogue)
Steinmann, H. 1993. Dermaptera. Eudermaptera II. Das Tierreich 108: xxii 1-711 [603, figs 958-961] (description)
Tillyard, R.J. 1926. The Insects of Australia and New Zealand. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xi 560 pp. 43 pls. [110] (New Zealand)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Apr-2014 | MODIFIED |