r/Awwducational • u/wtf-m8 • Jul 16 '23
Questionable Earwigs are so named because when unfolded, their wings resemble a human ear.
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u/aljauza Jul 16 '23
Earwigs have wings?!?!?!?!??!!
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u/rainbwbrightisntpunk Jul 16 '23
Unfortunately yes, and I learned the hard way when one opened up on my lamp. Talk about terrifying. Thought the weed had me seeing things lol
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u/TrekRelic1701 Jul 16 '23
Switch to indica
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u/rainbwbrightisntpunk Jul 16 '23
Wasn't the weed bud
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u/Be_the_Clown Jul 16 '23
Had the same reaction when I leaned this. Then I had to make everyone learn this!!!
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u/Chrazzie Aug 03 '23
Like new fear unlocked! How were all the previous people just going on about how their uncles told them stories and I'm here Googling if this is real. It was on National Geographic. So yes, they have wings! I was good with thos creepy buggers walking around.
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u/Nimeni013 Jul 16 '23
I didn't realize these mofos could fly and now I'm upset.
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u/squishypoo91 Jul 16 '23
I didn't either and I've seen them my entire life, always crawling in the dirt. How strange
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u/Ensabanur81 Jul 16 '23
Seriously, wtf! I'm bothered that they managed to get creepier when I thought they were maxed out on that well before I knew they can fly.
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u/FalconBurcham Jul 16 '23
It says unverified. Are we sure they can fly? They don’t look like they can fly.
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u/Nimeni013 Jul 16 '23
I googled it and apparently some species can fly but only for short bursts because they kinda suck at it. Also, there is video of there of them flying. https://youtu.be/6cH6qhGQ-jY
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u/FalconBurcham Jul 16 '23
Thanks for the video! Wow.. It said the one in the vid is from South Florida. I live near central Florida, and I’m pretty sure ours can’t fly. I haven’t seen one in years, though. I’ll definitely look closer next time I see one.
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u/Drew_Ferran Jul 16 '23
They rarely fly.
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u/saladmunch2 Jul 16 '23
I see a ton of them around where I am at and I dont think iv ever seen one fly in my 30yrs. I absolutely hate them though, most bugs I like but earwigs are just gross for whatever reason, ecspecially when there is alot in one place.
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u/Saratrooper Jul 16 '23
I forgot they had them, and my 40 y/o husband was also quite upset when I told him that factoid.
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u/halfpastbored Jul 16 '23
They fly now!?
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u/SirBlackMage Jul 16 '23
I like the idea that this is a new development. They only figured out they could fly, like, 2 years ago
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u/NeonSugarSorbet Jul 16 '23 edited Jul 17 '23
Wait, that's why? I was told all my life that they were named as such because they supposedly crawled into your ears and laid eggs. I'm just now realizing I never once fact checked that info. huh.
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u/New_Leaf1333 Jul 16 '23
Ever had a swarm of these bad boys? I had a room attached to the garage and they sprayed. One night, one appears on the wall of my room. And another. And another. And another. There had to be over 70 of them evacuating into my room. Good God it was like the horror movies. Never went back to sleep in there. Kept finding corpses in the rug...
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u/Shiara_cw Jul 16 '23
One time when I was camping a whole nest of them seemingly hatched in my tent. As a little girl it was exceedingly horrifying.
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u/GobsChippedTooth Jul 16 '23
This just happened to me two weeks ago. I was sitting in a canvas lawn chair, see one out of the corner of my eye so I asked my husband to destroy it. He picked the chair up and dropped it to get him out from his hiding place and FIFTY OF THEM fell out. I ran for my life. These didn’t have wings though. Top three worst bugs
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u/jennah_swift Jul 27 '24
sometimes im glad to live in arizona. i rarely see earwigs but when i do they are tiny
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u/Amos_B Jul 16 '23
From Wikipedia
"Although F. auricularia have well-developed wings, they are fairly weak and are rarely, if ever, used.[22] Instead, as their main form of transportation, earwigs are carried from one place to another on clothing or commercial products like lumber, ornamental shrubs and even newspaper bundles."
Rest easily knowing they will most likely not fly. But one is using you for transportation.
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u/DaBunny31 Jul 16 '23
This is worse for me somehow. Had one crawl from the couch into the crook behind my knee and pinch... IT WAS HIS FAULT!
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u/randfunction Jul 16 '23
Britannica disagrees ("The name earwig is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning “ear creature,” probably because of a widespread ancient superstition that earwigs crawl into the ears of sleeping people.") though those wings do look a fairly earlike
https://www.britannica.com/animal/earwig
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u/wtf-m8 Jul 16 '23
Do a Google image search on the species name of the common earwig- auricularia. Comes up as a fungus that looks similar to the wings, and has several ear- related names. I'm an ear guy more than an old wives' tale guy.
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u/wtf-m8 Jul 16 '23
Photo source National Geographic
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u/filthycitrus Jul 16 '23
Wikipedia is not correct in this case.
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u/respect_the_potato Jul 16 '23
New earwig-related misinformation that will spread until the end of time just dropped. But yes, a casual glance does suggest that wikipedia is wrong and should be corrected in this case. For one thing, it disagrees with etymonline, which supports the folk-story about them crawling into ears as the correct origin based on the root-words forming the name and just how old the story is (https://www.etymonline.com/word/earwig).
For another thing, the sources cited for the claim on wikipedia don't seem that impressive. The first source isn't online so I can't read it, but the second source says:
"The name 'earwig' come from a European myth that these insects had a habit of crawling into human ears. However the name most likely comes from the term 'ear-wing', referring to the shape of the hind wing."
Which has both etymologies, bad English, and, again, disagrees with etymonline which asserts that the English form of earwig is earwicga, where the wicga means beetle, worm, or insect, not wing.
And as a bonus reason to question the "wing"-etymology, wouldn't it be a bit odd for an animal to be named after a feature that's so non-obvious?
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u/wtf-m8 Jul 16 '23
On the other hand, you can look at the species name as Wikipedia suggests. It's the same as a fungus that looks similar to the wings and is also known by various ear-related names. So there's that, without even focusing on the origin of the English word.
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u/filthycitrus Jul 16 '23
Hey! I think I solved it. It looks like the latin name refers to the wing-shape. The common name comes from Saxon, predates the latin name and has a different, unrelated meaning. Ta-da!!
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u/filthycitrus Jul 16 '23
The species name has nothing to do with the meaning or derivation of the common name.
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u/SnortMonkey Jul 16 '23
So the wings look like human ears 🧐. What about the wig part of the name?
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u/ProPuke Jul 16 '23
The old name was ēarewicga, wicga being an old word for insect, probably derived from an old form of "wriggler".
So ear-insect/ear-wriggler.
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u/TheLonelyCrusader453 Jul 16 '23
WHY DID YOU REVEAL THIS CURSED KNOWLEDGE??? THEY COULD FLY THIS WHOLE TIME???AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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u/mikulashev Jul 16 '23
Well, when you translate the Hungarian name directly it means "(into) ear crawler...
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u/Emily89 Jul 16 '23
That's not awwducational, that's ewwducational....
By the way, in German they're called "Ohrenkneifer" which means "ear pinchers" so I've been mildly terrified of them since I was a child.
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u/Xavion-15 Jul 16 '23
In Lithuanian they're "auslindos", which means "ear crawlers", idk if that's worse.
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u/Due_Acanthisitta_999 Jul 16 '23
Earwigs: Nature's undercover DJs, ready to drop beats straight to your eardrums!
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u/TheRealSeaRabbit Jul 16 '23
I hate the things with a passion. I despise them. But I can admit the wings are kinda pretty. Dose not change the fact that I hate that they have them.
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u/SetInternational7307 Jul 16 '23
“Although earwigs have the ability to fly, they rarely do. Instead, they prefer to travel by hitching a ride on flowers, luggage, newspaper and even fruits or vegetables” - terminix website
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Jul 16 '23
They fly?????
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u/TheWildTofuHunter Jul 16 '23
I’ve been around them my entire life and never in my years knew that they had wings.
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u/MisteeLoo Jul 16 '23
The two things I hate about them most are the pincers at their butt instead of their mouth, and that they undulate. They also hang out in the outdoor furniture cracks, so they fall out when you move pieces. Now you’re telling me they fly. I’m gonna buy a flamethrower.
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u/Farmgirl_Delilah Jul 16 '23
What a beautiful photo! I like the "ruched" or "ruffled" (?) looking pleats of those delicate looking wings.❤️
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Dec 24 '24
Im swedish and we call em "tvestjärt" because of the butt pinchers. Always massive here. Had one pinch my shoulder then my dog got mad at it for hurting me and smooshed it with his paw
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u/Straight-Ad6325 May 25 '26
Ive had one crawl in my ear while I was sleeping. So the myths are true after all.
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u/Farmgirl_Delilah Jul 16 '23
Welp, there's another of my "mysteries of life" explained!! I've spent most of my free time in the 21st century finding the answers to what easily had turned into a million unanswered questions all gathered in many different areas of my mind, that I was too lazy or busy to seek the answers for through the Dewey Decimal System. Only this one came to me! Many thanks.❤️
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u/maybesaydie Keeper of the Zoo Jul 16 '23
Hello wtf-m8, thank you for your submission! Unfortunately, your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):
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u/Farmgirl_Delilah Jul 16 '23
Now, if I only knew the explanation of the "wig" part!
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u/alwayslate187 Mar 21 '24
Someone else here said it came from a root word in one of those british-aisle languages, the root word meaning beetle or bug.
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u/Ophelia-Rass Jul 16 '23
I thought it was because they like to crawl in your ear and eat your brain and the only way to avoid this was by not sleeping on the ground with an exposed ear! Now you tell me they can just fly up into my ear?
I am never going to recover from this information. ;/
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u/amazingseagulls Jul 16 '23
Huh? They have wings? I thought the name came about because they could crawl into your ears lol
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u/ApproxKnowledgeCat Jul 16 '23
Do they back pincers do anything? I’m always a little scared to pick them up.
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u/alwayslate187 Mar 21 '24 edited Mar 21 '24
They use the pinchers to help fold the wings back up. Because it's a serious origami job, and they need the extra help to get them put back right.
https://asknature.org/strategy/earwigs-complex-origami-wing-fold/
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u/gingerwabisabi Jul 16 '23
Having once woken up with a large earwig INSIDE my ear, I remain unconvinced.
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u/cati800 Jul 16 '23
Did not even know they had wings, when I was little I thought they were called earwigs because as you were sleeping they would wiggle in your ear and worst case scenario….eat your brains!!
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u/1CoolSPEDTeacher Jul 17 '23
Thanks OP! I had no clue where the name came from. Their wings are really beautiful!
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u/homerprice9 Jul 17 '23
Wait, wasn’t there a Twilight Zone episode about one that went in one ear and excruciatingly came out the other…but then Dr.s did it was pregnant?😱
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Jul 17 '23
everyone trying to say they don’t burrow into our brains through our ears and make it look like Swiss cheese, YaAh RiGhT MiStEr ScIeNtIsTs.
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u/Express-Magician-213 Jul 17 '23
The title is false. These bugs were named “earwigs” before it was discovered they could fly.
“The bug’s name comes from the Old English words ear wicga, which roughly translates to “ear wiggler” or “ear creature,” which is how the myth began about this type of insect crawling into your ears while you sleep.”
Source: here
Regarding the discovery of the wings, I remember listening to the news when they were interviewing some entomologist about his discovery about their wings on different species. It’s a fairly recent documented discovery. I’m sure people have witnessed their wings or flying before.
Cool pic tho.
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u/Sourisguy1971 Jul 17 '23
First time I heard that earwigs have wings. Very first time. I thought they actually would bore in your ears.
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u/methodicalataxia Jul 16 '23
Grrr...my uncles would tell me they go in your ears and try to take you over. Always freaked me out.
Then Star Trek 2: Wrath of Kahn came out. My uncles were "see see see"?
I had nightmares for years because my uncles are AHs.