Is your flower garden infected with Earwigs?

Many people still consider the Earwig to be a creature that enters the brain through a person's ear. However, while they may look pretty nasty, Earwigs are actually quite harmless to human beings and they do not climb anywhere near the ear. Earwigs vary in size from and grow up to one inch in length.. They either come in black or brown color. There are two different types of species of earwig namely winged or wingless. Only a few of the species are good fliers. The forceps or pincers are most distinctive characteristic and they are found at the back of the body. They are used in capturing the prey and during mating.

If you are wondering what do "what do earwigs eat"? You will be surprised to know that they are omnivorous. They feed on a wide range of food. They will eat insects, as and vegetation.

The earwig insect can cause damage to cultivated plants and they can be a nuisance when they venture indoors. Migrations of earwigs have been reported... However. It is uncommon for them to go indoors. Some species will give a foul odor and they can be of great value as they are predators of certain insect pests.

Earwigs are nocturnal. During the day they will be found in moist shady places, under wood piles, stones, boards , compost piles, flower beds, and other secluded locations. When earwigs migrate indoors, they hide in cracks and crevices around baseboards and other locations. They may be found in potted plants and cut flowers.

The Different Types of Earwigs and Their Features
There are different types of earwig that you can find:-

European Earwig
These earwigs feed on dead insects and rotting plants but are also known to eat flower blossoms lettuces and other garden plants as well.

Earwig bugs sometimes enter houses and garages during periods of warm wet weather. When they are inside they search for the moist areas and can be found in kitchens, basements and sometimes bathrooms. They are a nuisance when inside as they seek paper or fiber products and feeding on them.

You can notice the pair of forceps on the tip of the abdomen on an earwig as they look like little claws. On the male earwig, the forceps are strongly curved and the female's forceps are more or less straight.

Ring legged ea rwigs
They are usually between half an inch and an inch long and the females of the species are slightly larger than the males. You will find that these insects are brown or black in color. Their legs are yellow with brown rings on them. The antennae are black with white rings.

They mainly live in gardens and fields. Like most earwigs, they are nocturnal. So they are hidden under rocks, logs and plants during the day.

The ring legged earwigs lay small white eggs and one female can lay up to seven batches of eggs with about 50 in each batch. These will be laid under any debris including dead leaves or anything that they can find. The eggs take around 17 days to hatch depending on the time of the year. In the colder months the eggs take longer to hatch and the mother will wait with the eggs until they have hatched no matter how long it takes.

Ring-legged Earwigs are sometimes considered pests, because they occasionally eat crops and sometimes they are found indoors.

When Are Ear wigs Active and how do we Control it?
Before thinking of preventing earwigs in the home, the first step should be to control the problem outside. As previously mentioned, the earwigs are nocturnal creatures so they like to hide during the day. When the earwig is not a serious problem it is best to ignore it. However if it is causing problems then there are several measures that can be taken for earwig control.

You should remove any garden debris as earwigs like to hide underneath this. Earwigs are attracted to moisture so by eliminating damp conditions in places that are easily accessible, it will help in the long run. You can use something like putty and weather stripping around door areas and windows to block earwigs from entering the house. One solution is avoiding insecticides. While this may be a good idea, it may not be practically feasible at all times. Insecticides can be dangerous to your family's health but the control of this is only short term due to new earwig entry from outside.


Another thing to try is to spread Diatomaceous.. This is deadly to insects but safe to animals.

Other methods for earwig pest control include using earwig traps. This is known as organic control for earwigs. Hiding newspapers in between flowers and vegetables in nighttime will attract earwigs. You can also try using bait in a cardboard box using oatmeal or bran. To destroy trapped earwigs you can shake the specimens into hot/boiling water and burn earwigs in newspaper rolls. For indoor earwig removal you can either remove dustpan and brush or use a Hoover.

Overall, if you do have an earwig problem, earwig traps are the best things. Make sure that you really have a problem, as earwigs can help to eliminate other insect pests.