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Influence of diet on development and oviposition of Forficula auricularia (Dermaptera: Forficulidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Ghislain Berleur
Affiliation:
Département des Sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3PS
Jean Gingras
Affiliation:
Département des Sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3PS
Jean-Claude Tourneur*
Affiliation:
Département des Sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3PS
*
1 Author to whom all correspondence should be sent at the following address: 99–20ième avenue, Deux-Montagnes, Quebec, Canada J7R 4E7 (E-mail: [email protected]).

Extract

In North America, the life cycle of the European earwig (Forficula auricularia L.) can be divided into a nesting phase (hypogean phase) and a free-foraging phase (epigean phase) (Crumb et al. 1941; Behura 1956; Lamb and Wellington 1975). Adults spend the nesting phase in the soil; females burrow into the ground at the onset of the cold weather, lay eggs, and then care for the eggs. Hatching occurs in spring; first- or second-instar nymphs move to the soil surface for the free-foraging period. The earwig, a nocturnal insect, spends the entire daylight period of hiding under trash or in dark crevices. Where two broods occur, females reenter the ground a second time (Lamb and Wellington 1975). Stomach content analyses (Crumb et al. 1941; Sunderland and Vickerman 1980) and food preference tests (McLeod and Chant 1952; Buxton and Madge 1976) revealed that the European earwig is omnivorous. Under laboratory conditions, nymphs fed freshly frozen aphids, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), survive better than those fed green algae or carrots, develop faster, and produce heavier females (Phillips 1981; Carrillo 1985).

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2001

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References

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