How did the earwig insect get it's name?

Question

It's such an odd and creepy name....I have always wondered.

Answer 1

Although earwigs appear somewhat dangerous due to their forceps, they are practically harmless to man.

The name earwig is derived from the old English 'earwicga' which means 'ear beetle'. It was once commonly believed that earwigs would burrow into people's ears at night and lay eggs in their brains. In fact the story still circulates as an urban myth. Earwigs are not parasitic and would rather lay their eggs under a stone. The human ear, though about the right size for an earwig, is not an ideal resting place. So if one were to crawl into someone's ear it would not be typical behaviour but the actions of one very confused and lost earwig.

I think they are grosssss! I put them right up there with cockroaches as the few things I have no problems about killing. Earwigs, roaches, mosquitoes.

Answer 2

Hope this answers your question.
According to Hogue, no one is sure of the origin of the name earwig (Order Dermaptera) but "one guess is that the early Anglo-Saxons, who named them earwicga (ear beetle or worm) and who lived in sod huts, where these insects also lived, occasionally found them in their ears upon waking from a sound sleep on a straw mattress. The warm and tight ear opening of a slumbering person might well have been a snug hiding place for these crevice-loving creatures." Earwigs are omniverous, and are considered beneficial because they actually devour many insect pests, but like any flesh eater, theyoccasionally crave some vegetable matter, and what better than tender young sprouts and flower petals?

Answer 3

Because someone long ago said that they look like a human ear...

Than people started the myth of it going in your ear, even though it's TOO BIG to fit inside...and no..it can't lay eggs in your ear

Answer 4

you dont want to know
they get in to your ear and lay their eggs on your brain before they come out again