earwig
an earwig
[For the right pronunciation, please click here.]
a kind of insect – small with elongated flat body with two antennae on the head and a forceps-like organ on the end of the abdomen; some kinds are with very small wings, but some are without wings; grows to ½ an inch to 1 inch (some, like St Helena can can grow up to 3 inches); feeds on (eats) moss, lichen, algae, fungi, small slow insects, spiders and mite; on average, lives for about a year; about 2000 species found throughout the world
The female earwigs take care of the eggs and the young until they grow to the first stage, which is unique (= very special or only one of its kind) in insects!
The earwigs were believed to crawl into the ears of a sleeping person and burrow into the brain thus killing the person! But this superstition, like every other superstition, is baseless!
earwigging (noun) = a severe scolding
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