Content:
- Earwig Identification
- Getting Rid of Earwigs and Setting Traps
- Natural Insecticides You Can Use
- Create a Barrier of Sorts
- Keep Earwigs Away
Earwigs, otherwise known as pincher bugs, are an insect that looks frightening but isn’t really nasty like some other insects. They can be found almost anywhere, but are more common in southern climates, and they don’t inhabit cold polar regions. There could be earwigs around that you haven’t seen as they are typically nocturnal, finding places to hide during the day from predators and the hot sun.
These insects like to live amongst plant and wood debris, the damper the better, and they prefer dark places. You may find that sometimes when you move something in the garden an earwig will take off running, desperately looking for its next hiding spot. But you have to be quick to see them as they can move very fast.
Many people think they are called earwigs because they have a tendency to crawl into human ears. But actually, the name comes from an Old English word, ‘ear-wicga’, which translates to ‘ear wiggler’, and rather than it is due to crawling into ears, they were actually given this name because the back legs resemble a human ear. Interestingly, they are called earworms in Germany and ear piercers in France.
Earwigs tend to come together in numbers during the day while they are hiding because they are all looking for somewhere safe to hang out until nighttime. These insects aren’t like a lot of other insects because they aren’t territorial and will happily share their space with other earwigs. This is why their nests can be massive, with thousands of earwigs living in the same spot.
As well as eating other bugs such as maggots and aphids, they are also fond of eating plants, which is why they can be found in the garden. A garden provides everything an earwig could need – food, water, somewhere to live, and the right damp, dark environment beneath the rotting plant material or wood.
Earwig Identification
If you haven’t seen an earwig before, you can identify them by their large pincers on the tail of the insect. The rest of the body is a reddish-brown color and is about ¾ of an inch in length. They do have two sets of wings, but thankfully, they seldom fly.
The female can lay up to 50 eggs, usually in a tunnel beneath the ground. It only takes about a week for the eggs to hatch, which is why your garden can quickly become overrun by earwigs.
The baby earwigs, called nymphs, look much the same as the adults. It takes them ten weeks to mature to adulthood, and they will shed their skins several times as they grow.
What Types of Plants Does an Earwig Likes to Eat?
Generally, they feed on the debris from plants they find on the garden floor. They will also manage to get beneath containers and eat the dead leaves and other decaying plant matter they find there.
However, earwigs will also eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers in your garden. They are particularly fond of flowers such as marigolds, dahlias, zinnias, and roses.
You will sometimes see evidence of earwigs feasting on apricots, berries, and peaches in your garden or orchard. They will also eat a variety of herb plants and tassels that grow on corn cobs. But they aren’t so fussy that they won’t eat other plants if their favorites aren’t available.
Do They Bite?
The large pincers on the back end of the earwig, which are also called ‘cerci’, are more for inducing fear in predators rather than a harm-inflicting tool. Therefore, although an earwig may give you a bit of a pinch with those pincers, it won’t cause an injury because they can’t exert enough pressure to really break the skin.
The other main purpose of those nasty-looking pincers is as an indication of gender. The pincers on a male are longer and curved, compared to the females that are straight and shorter.
Finding Earwig Damage
One of the first signs of damage caused by earwigs is to the leaves of your plants, which will have lots of holes chewed in them.
The plants can become ragged-looking in such a short space of time, even just overnight, and most of the leaves will only be partly eaten.
The damage to plants will often occur more commonly after there has been wet weather, which forces the insect to climb up into plants from the garden floor to escape the excess water.
Around the plant, you may see the excrement produced by the earwig, which is black in color.
Getting Rid of Earwigs and Setting Traps
Hose or Bamboo Traps
These are really simple to make and use. Cut a garden hose or a piece of bamboo into sections one foot in length. Then lay them in the garden beds between your plants.
Check the traps each morning and tip any earwigs inside into a bucket or container of soapy water.
Oil Pit Traps
A highly effective trap, the oil pit trap is simple to create. Take a small plastic container and add to it equal parts of soy sauce and oil, such as vegetable or olive oil. Put a secured lid on the container and punch some holes into the container close to the led.
Make sure the holes are big enough for the earwigs to crawl through. Then bury the container in the ground up to the level where you have made the holes. The earwigs will be attracted by the smell of the soy sauce, and once they are in the container, the oil will stop them from escaping.
Wet Paper Traps
Take a damp newspaper rolled up and place it in the garden at night. After the earwigs have finished eating for the night, they will look for somewhere dark and damp to hide out for the day, and the wet newspaper will be ideal for them. You could even use a small cardboard box – a cereal box is a good option, make sure it is damp or wet and put it into the garden at night.
In the morning, pick up the newspaper or box and dispose of the earwigs that have crawled inside. For even better results, you could use a bit of bran or oatmeal to lure the earwigs in.
Natural Insecticides You Can Use
Borax
If your woodpile has earwigs in it, sprinkle some borax around.
It will kill the earwigs, but be cautious about keeping your children and pets away from the area due to the toxicity of the borax.
Soapy Water
Like many other insects with an exoskeleton, earwigs will also fall victim to a spray of soapy water. The soap breaks down the oils present on the exoskeleton and without them, the earwig will dehydrate and die.
Make a mixture of dish soap and water and spray it around wherever you have noticed earwigs. You can also add some vinegar to the mixture for an extra potent insecticide.
Alcohol
Alcohol can enter through the waxy exoskeleton of the earwig and kill them in contact with the body beneath. You can use isopropanol, also known as rubbing alcohol, provided it doesn’t have any additives. You can also use ethanol, or grain alcohol, which actually has the best results.
To make the insecticide with alcohol, mix together equal parts of water and 70% alcohol, or if you have 95% alcohol change the ratio to 1 ½ parts water to 1 part alcohol. Then add the mixture to a spray bottle and use it where you have seen earwigs.
Diatomaceous Earth
Add food-grade diatomaceous earth to the soil in your garden and because it can cause damage to the exoskeleton, it will kill the earwig.
You must replace it after it has rained, as the wet weather will make it weaken and it won’t be as effective. The best part about using food-grade diatomaceous earth is that it is not harmful to your pets.
Create a Barrier of Sorts
Petroleum Jelly
To stop earwigs from climbing up your plants and trees, smear some petroleum jelly around the plant stems as earwigs won’t crawl over the sticky jelly.
Garden Barrier
Because earwigs can’t crawl too far, particularly over areas that are dry, you could make some barriers around the edge of your garden.
The best materials to use are gravel or coarse sand, and placing it around the garden bed will keep the earwigs out.
Keep Earwigs Away
The easiest way to get rid of earwigs is to put things into place that will keep the earwigs away in the first place. A good way to accomplish this is to encourage other birds or natural predators into your garden.
It’s also a good idea to keep the earwig’s favorite plants away from areas where there are hedges or climbing ivy, as these are popular hiding spots for earwigs.
More importantly, you want to keep earwigs out of your house.
The only way to really prevent them from trespassing inside is to check every item you bring into the home for these insects.
So what do you do if they make it inside? You simply suck them up with the vacuum cleaner!
