# What does an earwig do?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-an-earwig-do/674591>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 23, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-an-earwig-do/674591 "2013-11-23T03:22:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-an-earwig-do/674591/21 "2013-11-25T21:42:46Z")

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So what do those rear-mounted hooks/pincers do?

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-an-earwig-do/674591/22 "2013-11-25T21:58:21Z")

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Capturing prey, defence, and grabbing onto your brain so you can’t pull them out.

Well, maybe only two of those.

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**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-an-earwig-do/674591/23 "2013-11-25T22:40:44Z")

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> [@jayjay](#):
>
> How much ear can an earwig wig if an earwig did wig ears?

> [@TreacherousCretin](#):
>
> Okay then. At least one other person is as silly as I am.

_\<raises hand\>_

Make it at least three people. 😃

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-an-earwig-do/674591/24 "2013-11-25T23:02:39Z")

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Again-most animals with pincers have them near their eyes 9it helps to see what you are grabbing). How do rear-mounted pincers work?

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**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-an-earwig-do/674591/25 "2013-11-26T00:33:16Z")

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Earwigs swing like a pendulum do.

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**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-an-earwig-do/674591/26 "2013-11-28T13:06:03Z")

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This is definitely a near-obnoxious post (near?), but one of the main characters/types/forces/themes in _Finnegans Wake_, sometimes referred to as Finnegan, the guy who gets waked, is repeatedly characterized as an earwig. Many, many fun cites, and, unsurprisingly, articles and book-length chapters on precisely that.

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