The earwig body
Earwigs are easily recognised by their posterior cerci which are modified as pincers which are more curved in mature males than females (see Forficula auricularia on the right and below, which shows a whole male and the pincers of a female, and the male in the photograph below).
Males do sometime use the pincers against each other when fighting over food or females, but mostly they are used in defence, predation, courtship and grooming. The pincers cannot harm humans.
Their front wings are small and hard and cover their rear wings which are very elaborately folded beneath. In some species, e. g. Forficula auricularia the tips of the rear wings are visible peeping out from below the fore wings making it look like the insect is wearing a waistcoat. The rear wings are large and semi-circular when fully open. They have the texture of skin, which explains their name, derm = skin, aptera = wings in Greek. Most of the winged species fly only rarely, and other species are wingless.
The antennae are long and simple. They have 2 compound eyes, but no ocelli.
The nymphs resemble the adults, but with slender pincers which thicken and increasingly take on the adult shape with each moult.
Moulting. There are usually 3 or 4 moults and the nymphs reach adulthood in late summer. It takes around 6 - 7 hours for the exoskeleton to become hard and darken.
White earwigs are sometimes seen. These are just recently moulted individuals whose exoskeleton has not hardened and taken on the normal colourations.
Earwigs are active mainly at night, and are omnivorous scavengers.
There was an old belief that earwigs entered the human ear and bit through the eardrum. They do occasionally enter the human ear, especially from straw mattresses as they seek out narrow, dark crevices to rest in during the day, but they do not harm us in any way.
Earwigs cannot rest comfortably unless both upper and lower surfaces of their bodies are touching something - this means they are thigmotactic. Gardeners take advantage of this behaviour by trapping them in straw-filled upside-down flowerpots. Though once found there is no need to destroy them, just put them somewhere away from you beloved blooms - the compost heap is a good place and they will help in breaking down the vegetable matter into humus for you.
The females are very attentive parents. Looking after their eggs for months - at least until the nymphs first moult, licking them and keeping them clean and free from fungal infections and parasites, and defending them against predators.