Invasion History

First Non-native Panama (Pacific) Tidal Record: 1981
First Non-native Panama (Caribbean) Tidal Record: 1968

Panama Invasion History:

Invasion History in Panama:

Anisolabis maritima has been found and photographed on Isla Cavada, Islas Secas, San Lorenzo, in Chiriqui Province, Panamá, on the Pacific Coast (GBIF 2021). It is probably more widespread on both coasts.


Invasion history elsewhere in the world:

Anisolabis maritima, (Seaside Earwig) was first described from the Mediterranean (Italy) in 1832 (Scudder 1876a; Langston 1974). Its native region is somewhat uncertain because this species was probably transported widely by shipping before its description (Hincks 1947). It has been introduced to the Azores, the Canary Islands, Bermuda, and the eastern Antilles  )Global Biodiversity Facility  2023).  In the Indo-Pacific, it is widespread in coastal China Korea, and Japan (Global Biodiversity Facility 2023), and from Mauritius, and New Zealand  (Hincks 1947).

In the Eastern Pacific, it is known from the Galapagos Islands (1905, Carlton et al. 2019), Cocos Island, Costa Rica, (Hogue and Miller 1981) and the Isla Secas Islands, Panama (GBIF 2023).


Description

Anisolabis maritima is a large earwig, usually associated with the littoral zone of marine and estuarine habitats, often under logs and rocks and in wrack-piles along the upper tideline. It was described from the Mediterranean Sea and is now widespread on temperate and tropical shores. Adults are 16–26 mm long. Males have strongly curved forceps (‘pincers’ at the end of the abdomen) compared to females. Females are larger than males. The body is dark brown with yellowish legs (Bennett 1904: Blatchley 1920; Vickery and Kevan 1975).


Taxonomy

Taxonomic Tree

Kingdom:   Animalia
Phylum:   Arthropoda
Subphylum:   Hexapoda
Class:   Insecta
Subclass:   Pterygota
Superorder:   Neoptera
Order:   Dermaptera
Family:   Carcinophoridae
Genus:   Anisolabis
Species:   maritima

Synonyms

Anisolabis maritima (Fieber, 1853)
Brachylabis maritima (Dohrn, 1864)
Forficesila maritima (Serville, 1853)
Forficula maritima (Bonelli, in Gene, 1832)

Potentially Misidentified Species

Euborellia annulipes

A cosmopolitan introduced species, known mainly from terrestrial habitats, Massachusetts to Florida, and California (Arnett 1993), but also from strandlines and elsewhere (Blatchley 1920; Langston 1974; Vickery and Kevan 1985).



Labidura riparia

A cosmopolitan introduced species known from the shores of rivers and oceans (Arnett 1993; Blatchley 1920; Hincks 1947)



Ecology

General:

In Europe, North America, and throughout most of its range, the Maritime Earwig tends to favor littoral habitats near the sea. It is often found on beaches and on the banks of rivers under pieces of timber and ‘rejectamenta of all kinds ' (Hincks 1947). On the shores of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, they were found 'in trash at the high-water level and well above this mark, and under the bark of logs on the shore' (Vickery and Kevan 1985). In California, 'Many of the areas where this earwig was found were rocky with considerable drift and debris, but very little noticeable plant life' (Langston 1974). However, in Maryland (Kent Island) it was collected from a brackish marsh, dominated by Spartina alterniflora (Smooth Cordgrass), Phragmites australis (Common Reed), and Iva frutescens (Marsh Elder) (Bickley and Seek 1975).  At temperatures near freezing, these insects retreat to sites well above the high-tide mark, where they become dormant. While A. maritima is most frequently found on marine and estuarine strandlines, it has also been collected from the shores of the St. Lawrence River near Montreal and Lake Ontario (Vickery and Kevan 1985), and in mountains in France, Burma, and Lebanon (Hincks 1947). Most reports are from the upper strandline of tidal shores. However, 'It is probable that A. maritima moves up and down from the high tide level to feed. (Langston 1974). 'When disturbed, they frequently enter the water' (Bennett 1904). 

 

Food:

amphipods, fly larvae, crickets, drowned insects

Trophic Status:

Carnivore

Carn

Habitats

General HabitatCoarse Woody DebrisNone
General HabitatUnstructured BottomNone
General HabitatMarinas & DocksNone
General HabitatRockyNone
Salinity RangeOligohaline0.5-5 PSU
Salinity RangeMesohaline5-18 PSU
Salinity RangePolyhaline18-30 PSU
Salinity RangeEuhaline30-40 PSU
Tidal RangeMid IntertidalNone
Tidal RangeHigh IntertidalNone
Tidal RangeSupratidalNone
Tidal RangeTerrestrialNone
Vertical HabitatEndobenthicNone
Vertical HabitatEpibenthicNone

Life History

Reproduction: Sexes are separate. Males tend to be larger than females. Fertilization is internal. Females dig burrows in sand or nest in crevices in rotten logs and lay the eggs there, later guarding the eggs and young (Vickery and Kevan 1985).


Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Salinity (‰)0Tolerates seasonal exposure to freshwater, but apparently rarely established in permanently freshwater habitats in San Francisco Bay (Langston 1974) and Chesapeake Bay (Fofonoff, personal observation)
Maximum Salinity (‰)37Typical Mediterranean salinity
Broad Temperature RangeNoneCold temperate-Tropical
Broad Salinity RangeNoneMesohaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

Economic impacts of Anisolabis maritima (Seaside Earwig) have not been noted. Most people find them unattractive, but economic impacts are likely insignificant.


Regional Distribution Map

Bioregion Region Name Year Invasion Status Population Status
PAN_PAC Panama Pacific Coast 2020 Def Estab

Occurrence Map

OCC_ID Author Year Date Locality Status Latitude Longitude

References

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DOI 10.1007/s10530-017-1469-2

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Walden, Benjamin Hovey (1911) The Euplexoptera and Orthoptera of Connecticut, Bulletin of the State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut 6: 41-169