Lesser earwig - Labia minor - Family: Labiidae

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Lesser earwig - Labia minor
© Roger Key/English Nature

The lesser earwig is similar to the common earwig but smaller and less shiny, being a chocolate brown colour rather than the chestnut-brown of its larger relative. Lesser earwigs are usually only ever found in the garden in compost that is actively decaying and hence quite warm and are most usually encountered when turning the compost heap.

Like common earwigs, they show considerable maternal care of their eggs and young and even feed them for the first week or two after they have hatched: a most unusual practice among insects. This earwig is much more likely to take flight than its close relative and regularly visits outside lights at night.

Food

Detritus feeder on decaying plant material in warm places.

Plants

Common nettle