Month: September 2015

5 fantastic earwig facts

Nigel Cook is one the last of our summer interns to fly the nest. He’s just come to the end of an eight-week placement as part of his MA in Museum Studies at Leicester University, and has been based in our Life Collections. Over this time with us, he’s developed an affection for an unlikely insect.

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I have been working with a historic collection of earwig specimens (some over 100 years old!), ensuring that they are safely moved into new storage and given some care and attention on the way. There was a time when the word ‘earwig’ would send a shiver down my spine, as I recalled childhood tales of eggs being laid in my ear as I slept. But now I know better; earwigs don’t make their homes in ear canals, you are much more likely to discover them under stones, or the bark of a tree.

Like me before the start of my project, few people know anything about this fascinating order of insects, so here are 5 amazing facts I have learned during my internship that might change the way you think about them.

1. Mum’s the word

Unusually for non-social insects, earwigs make great mums! In several species, earwig mothers will stay and care for their eggs in a makeshift nest. They provide the eggs with warmth, fend off predators, and even clean the eggs regularly in order to prevent fungus growth.

2. “Skin wings”

Earwigs belong to the order ‘Dermaptera’, a Greek name which is derived from the roots “derma”, meaning skin, and “ptera”, meaning wings. This is because most species have a pair of thin hind wings which fold neatly under a shorter pair of forewings, called tegmina, which act like a protective casing.

Yes, earwigs can fly! Although they rarely use this ability, it has helped them to spread worldwide.

3. A strong grip

Many earwig species feed on decaying plant and animal matter, some eat living plants and others are predators. These carnivores usually prey on smaller insects, but with the use of the pincers (or ‘cerci’) on their abdomens, some earwigs are capable of snaring much larger insects. These pincers can vary in shape and size from species to species, and even between males and females.

4. That itching feeling…

In the jungles of Africa, there are giant pouched rats far larger than the rats we might see scurrying around our cities. Within the fur of some of these rats lives a very odd earwig; those of the family ‘Hemimeridae’.

These tiny insects are ‘ectoparasites’, spending their entire lives on the rats. Wingless and blind, they barely resemble earwigs at all.

5. Darwin’s collection

During his great expeditions around the globe, Charles Darwin personally collected many specimens to support his theories. Amongst these specimens were earwigs, some of which survive in museum collections to this day, including several here at the Museum of Natural History.

Although earwigs have carried a bad reputation for many years, it’s important to realise that they pose no risk to humans.

They are a diverse, widespread and very successful order of insects that have been wrongly labelled as ear-invaders. So the next time you find an earwig, see it the way I do now: as a fascinating insect that’s just a little misunderstood.

Nigel Cook, Entomology Intern

Getting a grip on Life

Hello. My name is Mark Carnall and this is my first post for More than a Dodo. It’s my third week as the new collections manager for Life Collections here at the Museum, which means I now have responsibility for all of the life-related material that isn’t entomological (so no insects, spiders, millipedes and other creatures which loosely fall under the term ‘minibeasts’).

While I’m thankful that my job is made a little easier for not including roughly two thirds of animal life, it’s challenging enough: microscopic snail shells up to entire whale skeletons – and everything in between – fall under my purview.

There are approximately half a million specimens in my care: mammals (including humans), birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, sponges, corals, jellyfish, molluscs, echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins and their allies), and a whole host of more obscure but equally interesting animals.

How does one go about getting to grips which such a large and varied collection? Well, rather than starting at aardvarks and working through to zebras, perhaps the best way to learn about the collection is by facilitating the use of it.

Already, enquiries have been coming in from researchers, other museum professionals and members of the public. So far, I’ve had questions about preserving giant squid; the number of gorilla specimens we hold; the sexy parts of crabs; the history of the whale specimens on display; the identity of a bird-footed cup; and a number of queries about our human remains material.

I’ve also been taking the time to geek out over explore the collections, and there’s barely a drawer or cabinet that doesn’t have a first, largest or oldest. It’s not all treasures though: there’s material that scientists might regard as barely interesting as a data point, but is perfect for engaging and enthusing visitors in displays, events and workshops.

This was highlighted in my first week here when a visitor brought a specimen in for identification. Although it was ‘just a cow tooth’, its owners were so happy to solve their mystery that they wanted to print and frame the identification (hopefully this sparked a lifelong interest in natural history too).

So I’ll be spending the next weeks finding my way around the collections and you’ll be discovering it all at the same time through blog posts here, my Spotlight Specimen slots in the Museum and no doubt through our jam-packed public events programme.

Next time, I’ve got a whale of a tale for you. Or perhaps that should be tales of a whale for you…

Mark Carnall, Collections Manager, Life Collections