Shore Earwig

The striped earwig prefers dark, moist environments with shelter that it can hide in during the daytime. They can be found in a variety of niches though, from cultured and uncultured farmlands, woodlands, and the margins of ponds and lakes. To save energy, the earwigs will occupy abandoned mole cricket burrows for brooding nests. Individuals are known to fly after a disturbance in search of a new nest as theirs may have become waterlogged or destroyed. Flight towards light has been observed due to their methods of orientation via the moon. L. riparia are generalist predators whose diet consists entirely of insects or scavenged meat. They have a preference to Lepidoptera larvae and insect eggs, but will eat any available insect. The earwig may use its long and powerful cerci to kill and immobilise larger insects. Because of their flexible eating habits, they easily adapt to any habit as long as there are insect around. In absence of a ready food supply, they have been known to eat nymphs and eggs of their own species. As nocturnal insects, earwigs only hunt after sunset, but feed primarily just after sunset occurs. Feeding habits of females depend more on their ovulatory cycle, and will go long periods of time without eating in preparation of egg laying. The primary predator to L. riparia is ants, as they prey on unattended eggs. …