Labidura riparia, największy polski skorek

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Labidura riparia (huge earwig)

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€7.03

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Description

Labidura riparia, also known as the shore earwig, tawny earwig, riparian earwig, or the striped earwig. It is the largest earwig species in Poland. According to various sources, it can reach up to 26 or even up to 30 millimeters (1.02 or 1.18 inches) in size. There is noticeable sexual dimorphism, with males being larger and having more curved pincers with an additional "tooth" in the middle. Females grow to around 22 millimeters (0.87 inches), are slimmer, and have straight pincers without the “tooth”. These earwigs are thermophilic, active at night in the wild, and also active during the day in captivity. They live in and on sand, where they dig tunnels in moist sand. The female lays a dozen or even several dozen eggs, which she cares for until they hatch into larvae and then protects the young larvae from aggressive or hungry males for some time. This earwig is a predator that mainly preys on eggs and larvae of invertebrates, but when hungry, it will attack and often overcome opponents larger than itself. Interestingly, according to several sources, these earwigs can fly! Personally, no one from Ants Invasion has witnessed such behavior, but who knows.

In captivity, these earwigs with a huge appetite will consume all kinds of fresh or dried feeder insects, as well as other sources of protein such as cat or dog food, fish food in the form of flakes or krill tablets, and even a piece of meat from a meal. Our earwigs particularly love dried gammarus.

Our earwigs are kept in 4.5-liter containers (approximately 0.5 gallons), with about 1.9 liters (0.5 gallons) of sand, several pieces of bark (link), and 13-15 adult earwigs. And of course, a cleaning crew. Due to the relatively low humidity, these springtails (link) are perfect for them. They are fed and provided with water once a week. We have not observed any cases of cannibalism yet, but we have not seen any young ones either. The breeding is relatively new (about 2 months), and the larvae are likely hiding in burrows. We often observe short, not very intense fights for dominance near a particular burrow. We assume that a 1-liter container may be sufficient for 5-10 individuals, but we have not tested it in the long run.

When purchasing the earwigs, you can choose the option with a kit. The options are as follows:

Small - 1-liter container, approximately 400 ml of sand, several springtails, and a piece of bark for them, 10 g of dried gammarus.

Medium - 4.5-liter container, approximately 1.7 liters of sand, several springtails, and two pieces of bark for them, 10 g of dried gammarus.

Large - 12-liter container, approximately 4 liters of sand, several springtails, and three pieces of bark for them, 25 g of dried gammarus.

The sand in the kit has not been cleaned in any way, but it comes from the same sandpit that we use ourselves. If you want to be 100% sure that there is nothing else living in it, pour boiling water over it or boil it for a while.

At the moment, we do not know much about their breeding, so we cannot provide any advice beyond the information in this description.

Below are some great videos:

Several adult earwigs collected from nature and many young earwigs, which probably have an abundance of food for the first time in their lives. It is best to watch with sound, as you can hear the crunching! :)

link

An earwig pulling an adult antlion into its burrow, occasionally nibbling it while running.

link

An adult earwig eating another earwig. It was likely a victim of cannibalism as the body was fresh. From the 10th second on the same recording, you can also see an adorable tiny earwig eating something very small.

link

And finally, an earwig that was dragging a bee, but when it encountered the first difficulty, it decided to eat it on the spot. The last few seconds of the recording provide a good close-up.

link