Editing Earwig (section)

== Etymology ==
[[File:Earwig description.svg|thumb|right|200px|Earwig diagram with wings extended and closed]]
[[File:Earwig - kanagawa Japan - 2025 Feb 28.webm|thumb|200px|An earwig crawling on wood.]]
The [[Biological classification|scientific name]] for the order, ''Dermaptera'', is [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] in origin, stemming from the words {{Transliteration|grc|derma}}, meaning {{gloss|skin}}, and {{Transliteration|grc|pteron}} (plural {{Transliteration|grc|ptera}}), meaning {{gloss|wing}}. It was coined by [[Charles De Geer|Charles De&nbsp;Geer]] in 1773. The common term, ''earwig,'' is derived from the [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|ēare}}, which means {{gloss|ear}}, and {{lang|ang|wicga}}, which means {{gloss|insect}}, or literally, {{gloss|[[beetle]]}}.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jeeGAAAAQBAJ&q=Earwig&pg=PA187 |title=An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language |first=Walter W. | last=Skeat |year=2013 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=9780486317656 |page=187 |access-date=31 October 2020 |archive-date=9 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609004309/https://books.google.com/books?id=jeeGAAAAQBAJ&q=Earwig&pg=PA187 |url-status=live }}</ref> Entomologists suggest that the origin of the name is a reference to the appearance of the hindwings, which are unique and distinctive among insects, and resemble a human ear when unfolded.<ref>{{cite book|last=Costa|first=J.T.|title=The Other Insect Societies|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=United States, Harvard University|date=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/dermaptera.html|title=Dermaptera: earwigs|publisher=[[CSIRO]]|work=Insects and their Allies|access-date=16 November 2015|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924001320/http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/dermaptera.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The name is more popularly thought to be related to the [[old wives' tale]] that earwigs burrowed into the brains of humans through the ear and laid their eggs there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Friedrichsen|first=G W S |author2=Robert W Burchfield|title=The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology|editor= Onions CT|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=United Kingdom, Oxford University|date=31 December 1966|edition=1996 |pages=earwig|isbn=978-0-19-861112-7}}</ref> Earwigs are not known to purposefully climb into ear canals, but there has been at least one anecdotal report of earwigs being found in the ear.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fisher |first=JR |title=Earwig in the ear|journal=Western Journal of Medicine |year=1986|volume=145|issue=2|page=245|pmid=3765607|pmc=1306897 }}</ref>