Dermaptera

Your insect is probably an earwig

 

Fact file

Order: Dermaptera
Body length: 5 - 50mm
Species: World - 1800, UK - 7

Earwigs are quite common insects in your garden. They all have 'forceps' or 'pincers' at the tip of their abdomen. On females the pincers are fairly straight, while male pincers are more curved.

In the past people thought that earwigs could crawl into the ears of sleeping people, and bore into their brains - but don't worry, this is definitely not true!

 

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illustration Dermaptera