[Nigel Edmunds]

Nigel Edmunds asked the Naked Scientists:

What do earwigs eat?

What do you think?

[dentstudent]

Wikipedia - Earwigs

Most earwigs found in Europe and North America are of the species Forficula auricularia, the European or common earwig, which is distributed throughout the cooler parts of the northern hemisphere. This species feeds on other insects, plants, ripe fruit, and garbage. Plants that they feed on typically include clover, dahlias, zinnias, butterfly bush, hollyhock, lettuce, cauliflower, strawberry, sunflowers, celery, peaches, plums, grapes, potatoes, roses, seedling beans and beets, and tender grass shoots and roots; they have also been known to eat corn silk, damaging the corn. Typically they are a nuisance because of their diet, but normally do not present serious hazards to crops.

[Don_1]

They are little buggers for eating fresh shoots on Clematis!!!

[lyner]

So they don't crawl into your ears and eat your brains?
What a disappointment. I wonder where that idea came from - or is it something etymological rather than entymalogical.

[Asyncritus]

So they don't crawl into your ears and eat your brains?
What a disappointment. I wonder where that idea came from - or is it something etymological rather than entymalogical.

Heh heh! Very witty, Sophie!

[lyner]

So where does the name come from? Did someone wake up after a sleep in a field and discover one crawling around his ear?
I expect that same person would have decided on an intelligent designer to explain that.

[blakestyger]

So where does the name come from? Did someone wake up after a sleep in a field and discover one crawling around his ear?

It seems so.
The origin is the Old English earwicga, from eare (ear) and wicga (probably related to wiggle). The creature was formerly believed to crawl into the human ear. [Shorter OED]

[lyner]

Of all the little beasies that would fit in yer ear, I wonder why they chose that one to be given the name. Perhaps their  colour is a bit like rich dried ear wax. Nice.