Linda Cox, age 11, of Spokane, Wash., for her question:

Does the earwig have live babies?

The earwig is an insect and no insect bears live babies. All of them lay eggs. The mother earwig lays her eggs where she knows the youngsters will have a plentiful food supply. This is usually on or near the plants they like best.

The eggs do not hatch into grubs or caterpillars. They become nymphs, small copies of their parents. However, the young nymphs have no wings. They eat and grow and, pretty soon, are too big, for their tight skins. Then they must malt. The old skins crack open and the nymphs crawl out wearing larger skins.

At first the new skins are soft and elastic. But they soon harden in the air. The nymphs go on eating and growing until they have molted again and again. After the last molting the earwigs emerge wearing wings. They are now adults, ready to produce children of their own.