Anisolabis maritima

Invasion History

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

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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.

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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).

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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).

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Taxonomy

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

Consumers:

Competitors:

Trophic Status:

Carnivore

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Habitats

General Habitat	Coarse Woody Debris	None
General Habitat	Unstructured Bottom	None
General Habitat	Marinas & Docks	None
General Habitat	Rocky	None
Salinity Range	Oligohaline	0.5-5 PSU
Salinity Range	Mesohaline	5-18 PSU
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Tidal Range	Mid Intertidal	None
Tidal Range	High Intertidal	None
Tidal Range	Supratidal	None
Tidal Range	Terrestrial	None
Vertical Habitat	Endobenthic	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None

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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).

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Salinity (‰)	0	Tolerates 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 (‰)	37	Typical Mediterranean salinity
Broad Temperature Range	None	Cold temperate-Tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Mesohaline-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.

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References

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