About Forficula dentata Fabricius, 1775
Forficula dentata is a species of earwig in the family Forficulidae, commonly known as the Western earwig or European earwig. It was first formally described by Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. This is a cryptic species that belongs to the Forficula auricularia species complex. Originally, it was considered a synonym of Forficula auricularia, but it has since been reclassified as its own distinct species. As a cryptic species, it is frequently misidentified as either F. auricularia or Forficula mediterranea, two species that have different distributions. The confirmed distribution of F. dentata covers the British Isles, portions of Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and the western regions of the United States and Canada. Additional recorded populations of the species occur at the Belarusian Central Botanic Gardens in Belarus, Newfoundland in Canada, and a single individual has been recorded near Gimmingen, Germany.
