Labidura riparia, commonly referred to as the tawny earwig, giant earwig, striped earwig, riparian earwig, or common brown earwig, is a species 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...

 in the suborder 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...

. They have a lighter color than most other earwigs, which are usually brown, lending to their name, the "tawny

Tawny (color)

Tawny is a yellowish brown color. The word means "tan-colored," from Anglo-Norman tauné "associated with the brownish-yellow of tanned leather," from Old French tané "to tan hides," from Medieval Latin tannare, from tannum "crushed oak bark," used in tanning leather, probably from a Celtic source...

 earwig". They can be found near ponds, lakes, and debris near seashore. The species is attracted to light, like many other insects. They emit an odor that is often considered extremely nauseating by many people .

It is a cosmopolitan species

Cosmopolitan distribution

In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...

, found on every continent

Continent

A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...

 except Antarctica, due to its ability to survive rafting

Rafting

Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...

 and floating .