Earwig on the Cobbles, Cropped Version, Marianske Lazne, Karlovarske kraj, Bohemia (CZ), 2011

When I figure saw an earwig in Europe a few years ago, walking on a sidewalk in Patras, Greece, I was very surprised. I always assumed that these were American animals, but in actuality you can find them in most of the world. I also found out to my surprise that they can fly, although they do so rarely. In spite of their reputation and their looks, though, the pincer on their rear is more for intimidation than anything else, as they aren't particularly aggressive. I'm not an expert, but this one looks male, as males have more curved pincers. Earwigs aren't culturally significant to the Czech Republic, although you do hear the Czech word for them, Skvor, here and there. There a pub in Cercany named U Skvoru, for example, and I'm pretty sure there's a band called Skvor as well (although a Yahoo search failed to turn up anything).