📸 PhotoPhoto: Roger S. Key · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Saint Helena earwig
Labidura herculeana (Saint Helena earwig · セントヘレナオオハサミムシ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its 8 cm size is almost the same as the long side of a credit card (8.56 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 The specimen of the last individual observed alive returned to the Museum of Saint Helena for exhibition after 56 years (AfricaMuseum).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Saint Helena earwig lived only on Saint Helena Island in the Atlantic Ocean as the world's largest earwig, and was officially declared extinct in 2014.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Reaching 8 cm in body length, it is described as the largest known earwig.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Habitat destruction, predators such as rats, and predation by the introduced centipede (Scolopendra morsitans) on the island are cited as reasons for its disappearance. The last living individual was observed on May 24, 1967.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List EX (2014) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/11073/21425735
- • IUCN Red List category EX — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 3RJL9
- • iucnredlist.org — 21425735
- • wikidata.org — Q1040496
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Labidura herculeana.jpg
- • africamuseum.be — giant earwig returns to st helena
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Labidura riparia)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.