19 August: Earwigs

• On this date in 1775 a rain of earwigs fell over Stroud, England; so here are 10 things you might not know about them.

1. Earwigs belong to the Dermaptera insect order. The name of the order is made up of the Greek words for skin and wings. There are about 200 species in the family, but only four of them live in the UK.
2. The largest species of earwig is the Australian giant earwig which is about 2 inches (5cm) long. There’s one extinct type of earwig, the Saint Helena earwig, which was over 3 inches long.
3. The common name of earwig comes from an old myth that says the insects would crawl into people’s ears and lay their eggs in the Brain. It is exactly that – a myth. “Ear” is pretty obvious. The “wig” comes from the Old English word wicga, meaning insect or beetle.
4. In some parts of England they are called battle twigs and in Japan, they’re called “penis cutters” because they were frequently found in Toilets.
5. Another name they’re sometimes given is pincher bug, because of the pincers on their rear ends. The pinchers pose no threat to people but are used by the earwig to fight off other creatures that see it as prey.
6. You can tell the sex of an earwig by looking at its pincers. A male’s pincers are more curved. It’s possible they use them for mating rituals.
7. Earwigs live for about a year. Female earwigs lay their eggs in early spring so that they will hatch as the weather gets warm. She will lay around 40 eggs at a time and protects them until they hatch. Then, she feeds the hatchlings until they can fend for themselves, after their second moult. Newly hatched earwigs are called nymphs and they will moult five times before they are fully grown. In winter, they mostly hide underground.
8. They do have wings and can fly, but they very rarely do so.
9. Are they pests? They’re mainly scavengers eating decaying plant and animal material so as long as there is plenty of that around they’re actually beneficial. It’s only when they run out of dead things to eat that they might munch on living plants and that’s when they’re seen as pests.
10. They are largely solitary and like to hide in cool, wet, dark places (a human ear would probably be too warm for them). Their bodies are flat so that they can squeeze into dark crevices. They don’t like it too cold, though. They’re found in temperate and warm climates and wouldn’t survive a hard winter.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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