Earwigs are dark brown insects, with pincers at the rear end and are about 1.5cm long. They are scary looking especially if you see them in your house.
Male European Earwig (left), Insect Photos.net, Female Earwig (right)-University of Minnesota Extension Service
Description
Usually they are not found in the house since they like moist dark areas during the day. Males have curved pincers while females are usually straight and shorter.
Earwig Eggs and Nymphs-John B Free
Lifecycle
Earwigs overwinter in the soil and in spring females lay eggs in chamber deep in organic materials. They are one bug that actually has maternal properties. She tends the eggs and after hatching she forages for food for the young nymphs. The process from egg to adult is approximately 70 days.
Earwig Eating Caterpillar-Discoverlife.org
Habitat
Earwigs can be found in the daytime in dark places. Usually they climb up fences or other objects above the ground and hide between board or in crevices. They are nocturnal and do most of their damage at night. Sometimes they also hide between leaves of the plants that they attact. They don’t fly and don’t travel long distances, however they ‘hitchhike’ on various objects like a laundry basket, discarded newspaper, bikes or anything else that has places where they can hide. The compost pile is also a place they hide. These bugs are also beneficial as they will eat other bugs, so if they are not harming your plants do nothing.
Earwig Damage on Cosmos-Royal Horticultural Society (left)-Earwig on Daisy (right)-Calvin St Andrews
Diet and Damage
Earwigs feed on young seedlings and many different flowers, especial dahlias. They make small holes in the leaves and they will literally consume blossoms in an evening if you have an overpopulation. They are attracted to light so use outdoor lights that are bug resistant (usually yellow colour). They also eat other insects dead or alive so they can also be beneficial. I don’t recommend killing them unless you have a very serious problem.
How to Get Rid of Earwigs Naturally
- Hand Pick
At night use a flashlight to find them and drop them in soapy water. - Soap Spray
Spray areas where they may be hiding in the day with insecticidal soap. - Newspaper
Dampen some newspaper, roll it up and leave in places at night near the plants they are attacking. In the morning you can discard the newspaper rolls with them in it. Drop in a fire pit, that’ll work. - Sticky Traps
Use sticky traps around affected plants……they will stick and die.
BTW, *They DO NOT crawl in your ear while you are sleeping! LOL!
Lainey says
May 8th, 2013 at 12:49 pmI use a tuna/chicken can filled to the top with cooking oil. Dig a hole just deep enough for the can to sit into to the top. Leave overnight and collect hundreds of the earwigs. Scoop out the bugs and replenish with the oil daily. In a few days you will not see many bugs in the oil. The are attracted to the oil and fall in and drown. They have been eating up my daisies, and I thought it was the snails.
Linea Rue says
June 30th, 2012 at 3:18 pmThese dumb things are driving me crazy. They are thick under the permanent siding and in every flower pot. I sprayed right in the dirt and that has helped to keep them from eating the flowers. They are like little lawn mowers. They need to go away.
Ivy Tamwood says
June 21st, 2012 at 6:05 pmEarwigs have destroyed my gardens. They eat everything but the most damage they cause are with my shasta daisies. They are destroyed before they even get fully open. They are stained brown and chewed up. At night, I go out with insecticidal soap and spray every one (I spray during the day too, for prevention) but this doesn’t work. Each daisy has 3-4 earwigs in it. I got a spray just for earwigs and that doesn’t work. The newspaper idea works for a few of them. I will be trying the borax suggestion tonight but it will probably be like using the I-soap. My gardens are my pride every year and I work so hard. I live in Michigan so my gardening season does not last long, so to have earwigs destroy everything is just making me sick. If there are any other ideas out there, I would love to know.
Bug Man says
June 10th, 2012 at 1:06 amBuy a box of Borax from Walmart or your local grocer. Add 1 tbsp of Borax two 2 cups of water, stir till dissolved then add a few drops of dish soap then combine in a spray bottle.
Spray anywhere to deter many types of bugs as this is a natural insecticide we have just created.
Marla says
June 8th, 2012 at 3:57 amDear Earwig friends: We had our a/c quit…the tech. found that the compressor was PACKED w/earwigs. the a/c is only a year old…we have been fighting these things for 4-5 yrs. We got a bag of miracle grow potting soil from Sutherland hardware store and brought it home and dumped it into my long planting pot…it was FULL of these creepy things….thousands of them…5 yrs later we are still fighting them…we are sick of them…we live in sw/missouri
diane says
May 26th, 2012 at 12:03 amOur new puppy was playing (biting dropping and scratching) at one of these bugs….im not sure if she was pinched/bit…shes acting a little lazy then her ususal self tonight …should I be worried? Can they cause problems in pets?
Earwig says
October 30th, 2019 at 8:53 amNo! They’re 100% non dangerous to anyone who isn’t vegetal or like, an aphid
Also easiest way to diminish indoor populations is to dry the area…the lil guys hate that! Earwigs are actually really cool bugs that get a bad reputation, best thing you can do is arm yourself with knowledge and maybe you’ll even come to find them as fascinating as I do!
Dana says
May 24th, 2012 at 12:07 pmI am really concerened about our ‘new’ earwig, or as we call them ‘pincher bugs’ infestation. My children are finding them more and more all over our house, yard, thier play area. They are not harmless, as I learned the hard way. I hang my laundry out side on a line and when I bring the laundry in these things are always all over!!!? Live in South Jersey.