Earwig with a Clubbed Abdomen

January 25, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I’ve never seen an earwig quite like this before. In fact, I’m not entirely sure it is an earwig. When I first saw it my initial impression was of a beetle, a rove beetle perhaps. As far as I know though, no beetles have those earwig like pincers.

If this species is described in the literature, I wonder if the scientific name doesn’t somehow reference the clubbed abdomen. The whole insect looks prehistoric somehow.

This wasn’t the only one I saw. I spotted another one near by. It wasn’t quite as nice looking though, with a wing stain and a missing antenna.

Another Specimen

Here’s a closer look at those pincers.

Pincers Closeup