Adult earwigs have wings but do not use them to fly. Under favorable conditions, adult females produce eggs that hatch in as few as 12 days. Immatures that hatch from the egg look like miniature adults, except they lack wings. But even adult earwig wings are small, well concealed, and not evident unless the specimen is examined carefully. In Delaware only one earwig generation is produced each year.
Earwigs undergo gradual metamorphosis.
The female guards her white, spherical-shaped clutch of eggs after she lays them in a protected depression in the soil. Egg clutches number from 20 to 300 eggs. Earwigs can enter homes or buildings through the tiniest of cracks. Adults tend to aggregate at sites. Homeowners may suddenly discover a population in their basement, garage, or other structure.