## 1 Introduction  
Dermaptera (earwigs) represent a cosmopolitan [1], but understudied, insect order, totalling roughly 1930 species worldwide [2]. Comprehensive lists of dermapteran fauna are few, the most recent text being [PERSON]'s _World Catalogue of Dermaptera_[3] as well as [PERSON] online database [4]. [PERSON] also authored selected volumes of the monograph series, _Das Tierreich_, which are considered the most recent comprehensive taxonomic works for Dermaptera [5; 6; 7; 8]. [PERSON] [9] has most recently reviewed the Australian Dermaptera. He accounts for 85 species, 36 genera, and 18 subfamilies representing 7 of the 9 families recognised by [PERSON] [10], while [PERSON] database lists 88 species [11]. The most speciose families in Australia are the Anisolabididae and Spongiphoridae (=Labiidae; [6]), of which many specimens remain undescribed [9]. [PERSON] [9] lists 20 species of Anisolabididae in six genera in Australia, while [PERSON] [11] puts this count at 32 species in 10 genera. Aside from this, there are very few works available that catalogue Australian Dermaptera, although such works do exist [12] (p. 364). Further, the phylogeny of the order is obscure. Numerous conflicting family arrangements have been proposed [13]. The two epizoic taxa, Hemimerina and Arixenina, were previously considered suborders [10; 14; 15] because of their distinctive superficial morphology and lifestyle, or were not considered at all [3; 5]. These have been reconsidered as highly derived sister taxa to other extant families [16; 17; 18], in line with [PERSON]'s [19] morphological analysis. Molecular phylogenetic studies have typically been of insufficient depth to resolve generic relationships but have made progress towards resolving the familial phylogeny, which has undergone several recent revisions [16; 17; 18]. Dermaptera have recently come to the attention of the Australian grains industry where they are regarded as both pest and beneficial insects. Reports of crop damage by _Forficula auricularia_ L. (Forficulidae), the European earwig, have become common over the last two decades [20], and this species is listed as an economically significant pest in Australia [21]. The Australian native _Nala lividipes_ [PERSON] (Labiduridae), the black field earwig, is regarded as a pest of grain sorghum [22]. _Euborellia amulipes_ ([PERSON]), a cosmopolitan species found in Australia [9] is a known pest of cultivated plants in Europe [23], but its status in Australia is unknown. _Forficula auricularia_ is also considered a predator of several orchard pest arthropods [24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30]; _N. lividipes_ is also considered a predator [31] along with confamilials _Labiura riparia_ [PERSON] [32] and _Labiura truncata_ [PERSON] [33]. We treat _L. truncata_ as a distinct species following [PERSON] [PERSON]'s [34] finding that its karyotype differs from _L. riparia_, although _L. riparia_ shows karyotypic variation (see [35] and references therein) and not all authors accept the name _L. truncata_[36]. In addition, many earwigs have never been identified to species and their taxonomic status and agricultural importance remain unknown. Among the earwigs collected from southern Australian grains systems, some species including _F. auricularia_, _L. truncata_, and _N. lividipes_ have been collected and can be identified morphologically, but morphological characterization of many adult specimens remains incomplete. The most easily distinguished structure of dermapteran anatomy is the forceps, representing sclerotised, non-segmented cerci that are curved and exaggerated in males and straight and reduced in females [14], which play a role in male-male competition and in male displays to females [37; 38]. This sexual dimorphism, as well as intrasexual male polymorphism in some species [39; 40], make it difficult to delineate morphospecies based on these structures, particularly in mixed sex samples.