Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / Other insects
Sticker of Striped earwig
Bug card No. 1304 of 1,500

Striped earwig

Labidura riparia
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsOther insectsGardens and meadows6 legs

The striped earwig is a light tan earwig with two dark stripes on its back, just behind its head. At the end of its body it has a pair of pincers, like tweezers. It is a night-time hunter and a very caring mum.

Lives in
Warm places all over the world, in fields, woods and along the shores of ponds and lakes
Length
1.6 to 3 cm (0.63 to 1.2 in)
Top speed
about 0.73 km/h (0.45 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It might pinch with its pincers if you grab it, but it cannot hurt you. It can also make a bad smell to scare enemies away.
What does it eat?
It hunts insects, especially caterpillars and insect eggs, and also eats dead animals it finds.
For real!Photo of Striped earwig
Picture by Hans Hillewaert. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Striped earwig about 3 cm long (1.2 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 4.9 seconds

How big is Striped earwig compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The mother licks each of her 60 to 100 eggs clean, one by one.

2

She lies on top of her eggs like a hen and guards them for about ten days.

3

After the babies hatch, she brings them food until they leave the nest.

4

Boys have big curved pincers, while girls have smaller, straighter ones.

5

It likes to use old empty burrows of mole crickets as its nest.

you asked

Most asked questions about Striped earwig

?Do striped earwigs pinch?

They may pinch with their pincers if you grab them, but they cannot hurt you.

?What do striped earwigs eat?

They hunt insects, especially caterpillars and insect eggs, so they help farmers.

?How big is the striped earwig?

It is about 16 to 30 millimetres long.

Myth buster

Myth: Earwigs crawl into people's ears.

Truth: No. Earwigs like dark, damp hiding places under stones and bark, not ears. The name is just an old story.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Labidura riparia
Group
Other insects
Family
Labiduridae
Classification
Insecta > Dermaptera > Labiduridae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
Also known as
Shore earwig, Tawny earwig, Riparian earwig

Where the facts come from

  1. Labidura riparia (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Hans Hillewaert. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Other insects

Common earwigOther insectsSilverfishOther insectsChigoe fleaOther insectsGiant earwigOther insectsGrannomOther insectsFirebratOther insects

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

Italian tree cricketGrasshoppers and cricketsMuslin mothMothsCommon wood-nymphButterfliesYellow shadow antAntsPied hoverflyFlies and mosquitoesCook Strait giant wฤ“tฤGrasshoppers and crickets