Parental Care Alters the Egg Microbiome of Maritime Earwigs.

Recruitment of beneficial microbes to protect offspring, often reducing the energetic costs of care, is now recognized as an important component of parental care in many animals. Studies on earwigs (order Dermaptera) have revealed that removal of females from egg tending increases mortality of eggs due to fungal infections, possibly caused by changes in the bacterial microbiome on the egg surface. We used a controlled female-removal experiment to evaluate whether female nest attendance in the maritime earwig, Anisolabis maritima, influences the bacterial microbiome on the egg surface.