In many eastern countries locusts are relished as articles of food.
The distinctive character of the insects comprised in this group is found in the structure of the wings. The anterior pair are of a horny or leathery consistence, but always much shorter than the abdomen. The hind wings, on the contrary, are of large size, and are composed of a very delicate membrane. There is only one family.
Fig. 76.—Caloptenus Italicus.
Tribe III.—Euplexoptera.
Family 7, Forficulidæ.—The insects of this family present a great uniformity of structure. They are, for the most part, of nocturnal habits, concealing themselves during the day in crevices under the bark of trees, or in the ground under stones and leaves, etc.
Their food consists almost exclusively of vegetable substances, and are sometimes very injurious to flowers and fruit.
It has been said, however, that they also feed largely on plant lice or aphides, which, if true, give them a very redeeming quality.
The female earwig deposits her eggs under a stone in some cavity in the ground often dug out by her own labour.
Unlike most other insects, the female does not perish as soon as she has laid her eggs, but lives to behold her offspring, brooding over them almost like a hen. But it is distressing to learn that if the mother should die she is immediately devoured by her progeny.