Learn how to get rid of your earwigs or pincher bugs with these tips.
Preventing an Earwig Infestation
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Earwigs? Ew! Don’t worry. These menacing-looking insects don’t have a fetish for ears (or wigs), but they will go after garden plants. Here are tips for identifying, preventing, and getting rid of earwigs, also known as pincher bugs, in the garden (and your home).
What Are Earwigs?
Earwigs can be found in almost any growing zone, although they are more likely to inhabit warm, humid climates. You might have trouble spotting one—not only are they quick movers, but they are also nocturnal and tend to hide during the day when you are tending the garden. They like decaying wood and plant material and dark, damp spaces. Oftentimes, they can be found in basements and woodpiles.
Earwigs are the sole members of the insect order Dermaptera, ancient bugs that began crawling around Earth about 208 million years ago. Today, nearly 2,000 species are scattered everywhere but in Earth’s polar regions. Earwig comes from the Old English ear-wicga, which means “ear wiggler”—so named because the insect was once thought to seek out human ears to reside in. In France, they’re called “ear piercers” (perce-orielles) and in Germany, “ear worms” (Ohrwürmer).
In North America, we’re most familiar with Forficula auricularia, a European species. Earwigs were first reported in the early 1900s and have now spread to most of the United States and parts of Canada.
Earwigs enjoy a lively social scene. They congregate during the day because they tend to find the same hiding places. Their nests can number in the thousands, and they aren’t territorial, so they often live together.
What Do Earwigs Eat?
Pincher bugs are omnivores, meaning that they’ll eat pretty much anything that’s made available to them. In the garden, they primarily feed on dead or decaying plant and animal matter. However, when their population gets out of control, they may turn to feast on living plant matter, especially the seedlings or young foliage of vegetables and flowers. They will also readily prey on aphids, insect eggs, maggots, grubs, and armyworms.
This creates a conundrum for gardeners … Should earwigs be allowed to remain in your garden to eat up aphids and other pests? Or should they be removed before they turn their attention to your plants? Generally, earwigs do not cause enough damage to be worth fighting. However, if you do see large numbers of them around your plants, you can consider taking action.
Do Earwigs Pinch?
The pincers at the end of an earwig’s abdomen look rather formidable. They are capable of pinching (and sometimes biting) humans, but the pinch is not particularly powerful. Earwigs usually use their pincers to ward off enemies like toads and birds, or—in some species—to catch prey.
The pincers, called “cerci,” are also important for romance. Attached at the insect’s abdomen, they are indicators of gender, like tusks on an elephant. A male earwig’s pincers are long and curved, while a female’s are shorter and straighter.
How to Identify Earwigs
- Earwigs grow to be about 3/4-inch long. They’re reddish-brown insects with appendages on their tail ends that look like forceps. Few other insects have a set of scary-looking pincers like the earwig has. This is why some folks call them “pincher bugs” or “pinching bugs.”
- Earwigs run very quickly and can also fly, though they rarely do so. They actually have two sets of wings, and their pincers aid in unfolding the wings.
- What do earwigs eat? Nocturnal by nature, an earwig’s main meal is decaying plant material and wood, but it will attack living plants, including vegetables, fruit trees, and ornamentals, if given the opportunity. Earwigs are especially fond of flowers, lettuce and other tender greens, celery, and fruits.
- Female earwigs lay 40 to 50 shiny eggs in underground tunnels. Oddly enough, the eggs are diligently cared for and protected from predators by the mothers. They hatch in about a week, making it very difficult to control earwig populations before they hatch.
- Nymphs simply appear to be miniature versions of adult earwigs. They shed several skins, and ten weeks later, they reach adulthood.
- Earwigs often hide underneath pots during the day and then eat the flowers in the pots at night.
Signs of Earwig Damage
- Leaves will appear jagged and full of holes. Plants will become ragged overnight, and some leaves will only be partially eaten. There will also probably be a scattering of earwig excrement, which will be small, black pellets.
- Damage will often occur after rainy weather, which forces earwigs to seek dry shelter and climb up into plants and leaves.
- You might find earwigs under pots that contain damaged plants.
- Earwig damage looks similar to that of slugs and snails. To tell the difference, look for the telltale sign of slugs and snails: a trail of slime residue on foliage.
Photo Credit: Barbara Pleasant.
Catherine Boeckmann
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You’ll need to seal, caulk, plug, and close the gaps in areas where foundations meet siding. Also, make sure all seals around doors and windows are tight. Finally, remove any newspapers, boxes, lumber, plants, or debris near the siding. Make sure there are no damp spots in your basement or home for moisture or cover. Earwigs do not actually like to be in human homes but they are attracted by the light. So if you do fix and maintain screens and doors, they will not be able to enter.
Every year earwigs are a severe pest to our flower beds. I try not to water at night because the wet earth makes it worse. This year I have gone out after dark with a flashlight and there are hundreds of them, just swarming my plants. This year I planted flowers such as geraniums and snapdragons because they usually don’t bother them, but now they are destroying them too. I have tried neem oil, dish soap, etc. We have a lot of gardens, but I do go out at night, cup in hand of hot water with dish soap and olive oil and literally push them into the cup, but this year there are just too many
If you have that many earwigs, I suggest using an insecticide spray such as Raid Flying Insect Killer or Ant, Roach & Spider Killer. Spray on them at night around the base of the plants & raised beds, as well as the bottom of your siding of your home & garage. Works really well & won't harm your pollinators used that way.
Hi, they're eating my tomatillo fruit and I put a small shallow plastic container beneath the plants, 1/3 of the way filled with canola oil and a few good dashes of fish sauce (cooking variety). The first morning I had dozens of them drowned in the oil. Fish sauce is stinky and attracts them like crazy. No need to put a lid on, they can't escape. I just set it on the ground and water around it. Need to clean it out and replace new oils once the container is filled with them. Their friends and family go right back for more!
I don't know if it will work. But I've been reading up on Horse apples (hedge apples). A friend told me they repel spiders. I started reading about them. They also repel a lot of other insects and some rodents. Plus they aren't toxic for pets. I'm going to try them to keep away the spiders and see if it helps with the earwigs. You can just throw them on the ground around your house. If you want to put some in the house, they say to put them in a bowl or on foil. Because I'm about a week they start to swear their oils. Which is apparently sticky. Another use.... Decoration. According to one article they bring a rustic farmhouse look and feel and last a couple of months or more.
Who would have guessed that. Lol.
When I was a teenager, we were at my cousin on an Indian reservation. Kids slept on the floor in sleeping bags. I woke up early and killed a earwig. Back to sleep. When got up, one eye was swollen shut, the other part shut. Took two days before I could see again. Love the info. Will definitely use it!
In 2007, my grandchildren and I went to the dump for free sawdust for the yard. It wasn't fresh as it was dark. Used trash cans to haul it. During the third trip, my granddaughter lifted the lid. It was moving. Literally. Turns out the wood was literally full of earwigs. We had a solid mass moving across the top of the sawdust. That one dumped out back after adding water to it. Today their children are quite happy eating my plants and being a nuisance. They live in the ground. When I dig they turn up in droves along with all the babies. Definitely more birds would be nice.
I was surprised to be bit on the hand by one of those!
They destroy my marigolds. I can no longer have them in my garden or pots. I like to plant them with my tomatoes but the earwigs destroy them. I will have to try the Dawn dish soap.
Dawn dish detergent doesn't work. I'm still trying to find something to get rid of them years later.
