Have female earwigs evolved their forceps as weapons in battles for mates?

Female earwigs may use their forceps as weapons too—just like males

A new study from Toho University reveals that female earwigs exhibit a similar pattern of exaggerated forceps growth as males, suggesting both sexes may have evolved these traits through sexual selection.

Figure 1.Measurement points and morphological analysis. A, linear measurement of head, thorax, abdomen, and forceps. B, PCA plot of body size and forceps shape. The x-axis shows body size, expressed as the logarithm of the geometric mean of all linear measurements (mm). The y-axis shows forceps shape, which is explained by the first principal component (PC1). Large y-axis values indicate short and thick forceps, and small values indicate long and thin forceps. Blue circles indicate males and red circles indicate females.

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