Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 31, 2026

Forficula

Forficula is a genus of earwigs in the family Forficulidae; it was first described in 1758 by Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The name Forficula is Latin for earwig, formerly small pinchers. The genus spans all continents except Antarctica and is native to Afro-Eurasia, primarily Europe. The best known species is Forficula auricularia and is a common household pest.

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Forficula
Forficula auricularia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Dermaptera
Family: Forficulidae
Subfamily: Forficulinae
Genus: Forficula
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text

Forficula is a genus of earwigs in the family Forficulidae; it was first described in 1758 by Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The name Forficula is Latin for earwig, formerly small pinchers.1 The genus spans all continents except Antarctica and is native to Afro-Eurasia, primarily Europe.1 The best known species is Forficula auricularia and is a common household pest.

  • Forficula auricularia
    Forficula auricularia
  • Forficula smyrnensis
    Forficula smyrnensis

Species

The genus Forficula contains at least 68 species,2 making it the largest genus of earwigs. Some species are listed below:

References

References

  1. "Genus Forficula". bugguide.net. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  2. Henrik Steinmann (1993) [1989]. Dermaptera: Eudermaptera II. Eine Zusammenstellung und Kennzeichnung der rezenten Tierformen [A Compilation and Characterization of the Recent animal groups]. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-012298-5.
  3. González-Miguéns, Rubén; Muñoz-Nozal, Eva; Jiménez-Ruiz, Yolanda; Mas-Peinado, Paloma; Ghanavi, Hamid R; García-París, Mario (2020-11-07). "Speciation patterns in the Forficula auricularia species complex: cryptic and not so cryptic taxa across the western Palaearctic region". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 190 (3): 788–823. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa070. ISSN 0024-4082.
  4. "Species Forficula vilmi Steinmann, 1989". Australian Government Department of Environment and Energy. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  5. "Forficula paleocaenica Willmann, 1990". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
External links