Earwig Nymphs

A flowerpot rests on top of a shallow hole in our backyard, and apparently an earwig mother (Forficula auricularia) considered it a safe and convenient spot to lay her eggs. Well, I never came upon the eggs, but I did see the nymphs scurrying around, and the mother wasn't far away. The baby earwigs are pretty skittish but if I stick around long enough I can usually get some shots. Even so it's hard to get them in focus because they're so tiny and move so fast.

When I first lifted up the pot, the whole leaf was covered in nymphs, but by the time I recognized what they were most of them had fled. I had to poke around a bit to find some photogenic subjects.

**Note: you almost have to open these in the slideshow; otherwise you can't see the nymphs well.

You see they're accompanied by a coiled-up millipede.

I'm sorry it's like "Where's Waldo?" in these shots, but try to follow where my camera is focusing; look at the approximate center of the photo, and you should be able to spot the little fellows.

And here is the mother, which I didn't see until a few days later, though I'm sure she was hidden nearby the whole time.

She's sitting next to one of her young.

Another nymph...

You can see that this nymph has some green coloring: perhaps caused by the translucence of the exoskeleton showing the organs inside or the reflection of light off the exoskeleton.

This guy has a piece of food in his mouth.

How many nymphs can you count?