Is this insect I have taken a photo of a pest?

[newstart]

Is this photo I have taken a picture of a pest?

[TheOnionMan]

It's an earwig.  We get lots of these, particularly in wet years... not so bad this year.  They often get into the house.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig

[Maggi Young]

McMarks wikipedia link tells you just about everything about earwigs, David.
They are harmless to humans but can be a nuisance if they infest flowers..... Dahlia and Chrysanthmum growers get very ratty about the damage they can do to exhibition blooms. If you see a bamboo cane in a flower bed with an little pot upturned on it,  the pot will probably be full of straw or shredded paper... it's being used as an earwig trap.

In Scotland earwigs have two  terrific common names ....
forky-tails or  hornygolochs  

[TheOnionMan]

McMarks wikipedia link tells you just about everything about earwigs, David.
They are harmless to humans but can be a nuisance if they infest flowers..... Dahlia and Chrysanthmum growers get very ratty about the damage they can do to exhibition blooms. If you see a bamboo cane in a flower bed with an little pot upturned on it,  the pot will probably be full of straw or shredded paper... it's being used as an earwig trap.

In Scotland earwigs have two  terrific common names ....
forky-tails or  hornygolochs  

Oooh, I like the name "forky-tails", but I'm not even going to comment on that last common name

The earwigs are not a major concern to plants in my garden. Lifting up an old piece or wood or bark, there might be hundreds of these things in hiding (they like moist dark places).  The more vexing problem is that they get into the house, can climb walls and even the ceiling, their pincers looking more formidable than they really are, and since they are so squirmy-wiggly, my wife and daughters get freaked out by their occasional presence.

I always connect the word "earwig" with the series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, the feature character (the late Leonard Rossiter) who when stressed, inadvertently blurts out the word "earwig" for some other word.  I own the whole series, brilliant!

[mark smyth]

too many people think they can bite

[ArnoldT]

  hornygolochs  
[/quote]

Now that's a name alright.

[Maggi Young]

  hornygolochs  

Now that's a name alright.
[/quote]

 Fantastic, isn't it?     
Some folk think we Scots are a sombre bunch, but how could you be truly miserable when you've got names like that in your language!! 

[ranunculus]

  hornygolochs  

Now that's a name alright.
[/quote]

Are earwigs in Paris called French hornygolochs?

... or if found in those beautiful American mountains Big hornygolochs?   

[Lesley Cox]

Or if male, just hor.... No, better not go there.
I approve of earwigs because they're good mothers. Well the females are anyway.

[gote]

I once had a school mate who believed that they get into the ears of people sleeping on the ground, bite through the ear drum and get into the skull and feed on the brain. It was impossible to get him out of that belief. This cute little superstition was spread in those days (1940-1950 probably also earlier)
Göte
PS
An earwig in the grass will try to hide in any suitable hole. Perhaps once, someone got one trying to hide in the ear.

[angie]

I once had a school mate who believed that they get into the ears of people sleeping on the ground, bite through the ear drum and get into the skull and feed on the brain. It was impossible to get him out of that belief. This cute little superstition was spread in those days (1940-1950 probably also earlier)
Göte
PS
An earwig in the grass will try to hide in any suitable hole. Perhaps once, someone got one trying to hide in the ear.

Well thats what I thought when I was a kid so I stood on thousands, 

Angie

[newstart]

I must admit hornygolochs is a funny name. Seems I was not paying attention on my childhood school nature trips. They seem pretty harmless to all accounts to alpines which is good. What about vine weevil. i have had that problem occasionally. The biological control completely wipes them out-in fact extremely well to my suprise. i wondered if I should routinely do it in autumn as is recommended. i tend to wait till i see any signs of roots being gnawed off.

Cheers David.

[Darren]

I have a confession.

Snakes and spiders, frogs & toads I like. I don't mind rodents, enclosed spaces or heights too much.

I can even tolerate children if i'm in a good mood (about two days a year).

But just the picture of an earwig makes my skin crawl....

[maggiepie]

I'm with you, Darren.

[Maggi Young]

I'm with you, Darren.

Crikey! Can this be the same woman that gave us this message:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5874.msg162611#msg162611