Hemimeridae is a family of earwig

Earwig

Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera, found throughout the Americas, Africa, Eurasia, Australia and New Zealand. With 1,800 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders...

s, the only family in the suborder Hemimerina, one of the four suborders in the order Dermaptera. The other three suborders are Archidermaptera

Archidermaptera

Archidermaptera is one of the four suborders of earwigs in the order Dermaptera. The other three are Arixeniina, Forficulina, and Hemimerina. It is the only extinct suborder of earwigs, and contains one family, with six genera and ten species, known only from Jurassic fossils. The suborder is...

, which is extinct, Arixeniina, and Forficulina

Forficulina

Forficulina is the largest of the four suborders of earwigs, in the order Dermaptera. The other three are Archidermaptera, which is extinct, Arixeniina, and Hemimerina. They make up the largest and most familiar group. The cerci are unsegmented, and modified into large, forcep-like structures...

, the largest of the four. Hemimeridae is represented by two genera, Hemimerus

Hemimerus

Hemimerus is a genus of earwigs, in the family Hemimeridae . It one of two genera in the family Hemimeridae, and contains ten species:*Hemimerus advectus Rehn & Rehn, 1936*Hemimerus bouvieri Chopard, 1934...

and Araeomerus

Araeomerus

Araeomerus is a genus of earwigs, in the family Hemimeridae, the suborder Hemimerina, and the order Dermaptera. It one of two genera in the family Hemimeridae, and contains two species....

. They are wingless, blind and viviparous ectoparasites of African rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....

s, and have filiform segmented cerci. The most well known species is Hemimerus bouvieri.

External links

• An example specimen of the species Hemimerus talpoides from the Tree of Life (note that the species is incorrectly labeled)
• An example of a female Hemimerus vosseleri from the Australian National Insect Collection