Brian Inglesby, age 13, of Portland, Ore., for his question:

IS THE EARWIG A PEST?

There are 1,100 known species of earwigs throughout the world; and while some of them may be considered pests, others are not. Those labeled as pests are plant eaters and sometimes damage crops. Other earwigs, however, aid farmers and gardeners by eating snails, caterpillars and other wee beasties that cause crop damage. Happy to say, the 18 or so species that are found in North America are generally not considered pests.

Earwigs are small- to medium-size insects that are easy to tell from other insects by the wicked-looking pinchers on the tail end. These pinchers are formidable defense weapons and might even give a painful pinch to a curious but careless human. The earwig gets his name from an ancient superstition that they would enter a sleeping person's ear. The truth of the matter is they have no great fondness for a human's ears-sleeping or otherwise.