The female earwig is one of the few insects that guards her eggs and will use her forceps to defend both her young and the pearl-white eggs that she lays in a burrow she constructs in the ground. She cares for the eggs, licking and positioning them, carefully maintaining the moisture balance. After her eggs hatch, she forages for food and brings it back to her hidden brood. European Earwigs weren't known here in the United States until the early 1900's. What our European earwigs are known for, however, is invading homes in large numbers, at certain times of the year.
Earwigs come in cycles, some years are worse than others.
Wet springs virtually guarantee high numbers of earwigs. When the population gets so high on the outside, you're bound to get some of the overflow. Not many people believe this anymore, it's pure superstition. Earwigs are harmless to humans. After all, they do use it for defense, so you might expect something like this if you handle them with your bare skin.