It has been said, however, that they also feed largely on plant lice or aphides, which, if true, give them a very redeeming quality. The female earwig deposits her eggs under a stone in some cavity in the ground often dug out by her own labour. Unlike most other insects, the female does not perish as soon as she has laid her eggs, but lives to behold her offspring, brooding over them almost like a hen. But it is distressing to learn that if the mother should die she is immediately devoured by her progeny. The _Euplexoptera_ are widely distributed over the surface of the earth. The tropical regions, however, can hardly claim any great predominance over more temperate climates as regards either the number or size of the species. The largest European species (_Forficesita gigantea_), which is an inhabitant of some parts of England, measures about an inch in length of the body. Our common Earwig (_Forficula auricularia_) is not only found all over Europe, but apparently throughout the greater part of the eastern hemisphere. [Illustration: Fig. 77.--Forficula Auricularia.] Another British species, viz., the little Earwig (_Labia minor_), is also of wide distribution. The earwig derives its name from its occasionally creeping into the human ear in search of concealment. This has been denied by many authors, but we have personally known instances of earwigs entering the ears of persons lying asleep in fields in the summer time. The insect can be driven out immediately by pouring a little oil into the ear. Some writers have attempted to prove that the name earwig is a corruption of "earwing," in allusion to the shape of the hind wings; really a very ingenious idea, but incorrect nevertheless. ORDER HEMIPTERA. INCLUDING THE LAND BUGS, WATER BUGS, PLANT BUGS, SKATERS, LANTERN FLIES, FROG HOPPERS, APHIDES, AND THEIR ALLIES. [Illustration: Fig. 78.--Zelus Quadrispinosus.] The _Hempitera_ are _Haustellate_ insects; they have four wings, which are membranous and naked. Their metamorphosis is incomplete. The order is a very extensive one. The insects, however, are mostly found in the tropical parts of the world, from whence nearly twenty thousand species have been described. In the British Isles their number reaches nearly a thousand. The study of the _Hemiptera_ has hitherto been sadly neglected, owing to the great majority of them being very small species. [Illustration: Fig. 79.--Macrocheraia Grandis.] They include the Plant Bugs, Sand Bugs, Water Bugs, Cuckoo Spits, Froghoppers, Plant Lice, and many other familiar forms. The three great divisions into which they are divided are treated by many entomologists as distinct orders. The following will show under each heading the principal distinguishing character of each group or sub-order as we shall designate them. _Sub-Order 1, Heteroptera._--Fore wings of a parchment like consistency. _Sub-Order 2, Homoptera._--Fore wings membranous and naked, similar to the hind ones.