Earwigs are mainly nocturnal and by day live in secluded places such as under rocks, in leaf litter and under bark. Most species are omnivorous feeding on dead or living plant and animal matter. Some are active predators and a few are herbivorous. A suborder of earwigs called the Hemimerina are parasitic on vertebrates. Eggs are usually laid in batches in a burrow underground and females care for the eggs and the young nymphs.
Nymphs pass through four to five moults before reaching adulthood.
Further Reading Skaife, S.H. 1979. African Insect Life. Struik, Cape Town, pp.