Oders: Dermaptera and Odonata

Jan 15
I watched the Bug Chicks video on two orders I that I wanted to know more about the Dermaptera and the Odonata. I wanted to lnow more about earwigs just because of the chapter that I read in May Berenbaum's book about the common misconception of an earwig having the capability to crawl into your ear, and lay its eggs and burrow within. The Bug Chicks said several pieces of information that I did not know about earwigs in this short video segment. Specifically, male earwigs have two cerci that allow them to reproduce in case one of them is broken off. Thats weird, what other animal has two functional genitalia. Another piece of information I found to be cool was the entire reproduction and raising of their offspring. The male will mate with the female earwig, but once the eggs are laid the female soon kicks the male out. Also, the female is very nurturing to her eggs and her offspring, but she is not patient and loving enough. If one of the offspring stay too long, the mother will actually consume that offspring as a meal. That is weird because she took so much time looking after them, then she will actually eat one. These creatures are cool just because of the way they look, their wings are skinned, and they're cool just because of the information about them and the "old wives' tales".

Figure 1.

Above are two earwigs, a male and a female. The male has two cerci, which act as the penis, and noteworthy both are curved. Next to the male is the female earwig, and she has two straight cerci, and is usually larger than the male.

Image provided by AMCO pest services http://www.amcoexterminating.com/other-pests

In addition to the earwigs, I found the order Odonata interesting. I found these larvae quite interesting due to their mandible jaws that are about 1/3 of their body length. These jaws act as hands that grab their prey: fish, larva, and other aquatic beings and bring it to their mouths. Another interesting thing about the larvae are their jet propulsion methods. These larvae contract their anus (abdomen) to propel themselves in the water. In adult copulation the dragonflies reproduce strangely. The male grabs the female on the neck with his abdomen, then the female places her abdomen on the males sperm pouch, then the male flies her to an area to lay her eggs. The Bug Chicks taught me one thing about dragonflies that was cool, they can fly both forwards and backwards. Only one other animal can do this - hummingbirds. Although dragonflies are prehistoric beasts among insects, they seem quite advanced and successful in the entomological world. These insects are among my favorites just because of their difference to everything else, their colors, their eyes, and their wings. 

Figure 2.

Above is the image of the larva's mouth part. This hand-like extension reaches and grabs the prey while bringing the prey to the larva's  chewable mouthpart.

Image provided by Aquatic Invertebrate http://leahskey.wordpress.com/about/no-obvious-tails/dragonfly-larva/