Common Brown Earwig

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Common Brown Earwig

Common Brown Earwig

Labidura truncata

Most active during the warmer months. Shelters in cool, dark places. Eggs are laid underground in burrows. The female guards the young for some time after they hatch. The young are miniature versions of their parents.

Details Description
Type
Invertebrate
Group
Insect - Earwig
Identifying Characteristics

Body light brown with dark brown patches, flattened, up to 3 cm in length, with long tail pincers. Adults can fly, their wings are folded beneath slate-blue covers on the thorax. Nymphs resemble adults but are wingless. Both sexes look similar, but the males have larger pincers.
Distinctive Markings

A pair of long, pointed tail pincers. Orange triangle-shaped patch behind the head.
Diet

Omnivore. Eats soft bodied insects such as caterpillars. Eaten by frogs, lizards, spiders, praying mantids, ants and some birds.
Habitat

Hides in soil and beneath bark, logs, decaying timber, rock and stones in forests and woodlands.
Native Status
Native to Australia
Bites/Sting
Earwigs are completely harmless. They are not venomous however can give you a very weak pinch.
Taxonomy
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Dermaptera
Family
Labiduridae
Genus
Labidura
Species
truncata
Common Brown Earwig
Found in most states of Australia, including throughout Victoria.

Distribution maps indicate current and historic locations where species have been sighted.

Source: Atlas of Living Australia

Conservation Status
DEPI Advisory List
Not listed
FFG Act
Not listed
EPBC Act
Not listed

The conservation status of species is listed within Victoria and Australia.

The Department of Environment and Primary Industry (DEPI) Advisory List consists of non-statutory advisory lists of rare or threatened flora and fauna within Victoria.

The Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG Act) lists threatened species in Victoria. Under the Act, an Action Statement is produced for each listed species.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is the Australian Government’s key piece of environmental legislation, listing nationally threatened native species and ecological communities.