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White Earwig Newly Molted

Posted by April 11th, 2006 at 12:00 am

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Earwigs

Whitewig?
Hello,
Love your site! I used it regularly to ID strange bugs in and near my house. The other day while pulling weeds here in San Diego I disturbed this little guy. He was about the size of a regular earwig although his abdomen looked a little longer to me, and obviously, he’s white. I’m curious, is there such a thing as an albino earwig, or do they look like this normally at a subadult stage, or is it possibly something unrelated that just LOOKS earwiggy?
Thanks very much,
Andrea

white earwig White Earwig Newly Molted

Hi Andrea,
This is an Earwig. We believe it is a freshly molted specimen that hasn’t darkened. We will check with Eric Eaton to get his opinion. Eric responded: ” The earwig is indeed a freshly-molted specimen. There really is no such thing as an albino insect. There are white phases of some of the sulphur butterflies, but that is about it. Pale-colored specimens of other insects are typical of arid environments.”

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