The Canadian Entomologist (2001) 133, 269-278

Jean Gingras and Jean-Claude Tourneur (2001)
Timing of adult mortality, oviposition, and hatching during the underground phase of Forficula auricularia (Dermaptera: Forficulidae)
The Canadian Entomologist 133 (2), 269-278
Abstract: We studied the effects of frost on the survival rate of European earwigs, Forficula auricularia L., during the underground phase of their cycle and determined the timing of oviposition, hatching, and death of the adults; we selected couples and inserted them into the ground to a depth of 150 cm in an open area and along the foundations of a heated suburban house in the Montréal area. Oviposition occurred in November and December, and eggs hatched between January and early June, after an average incubation period of 79-189 d depending on experimental conditions. In the open area all adults and eggs at ground surface died, killed by frost, whereas those in the soil along the house foundation did not die. Males died during the fall and early winter; their longevity was shorter than that of females, which survived until shortly after egg hatch. Females and eggs survived temperatures as low as − 3 and − 2 °C, respectively. For successful reproduction, females must keep their developing eggs at a temperature low enough to delay hatching until mid-April.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Jean-Claude Tourneur

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
population dynamics/epizootiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Forficula auricularia (predator)