Forficula auricularia
My sib and I call them pincher bugs , and they were the only creepy crawlies I feared as a youngster . To be fair , I still get squeamish when I observe them hiding under the lids of my beehives .
As omnivores that will happily scavenge and bite on leaf , fruits , and other insects , earwigs can be both beneficial dirt ball , and garden pest .
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Ringlegged Earwig (Euborellia annulipes).
While preying on insect larvae , slug eggs , and aphid , and exhaust decay organic matter , they also jaw holes in seedlings , lettuce , berries , stone fruit , and blossom including dahlia and zinnias .
What ’s a nurseryman to do ?
Learn how to keep in line them in your garden in this guide .
Ringlegged Earwig (Euborellia annulipes).
Here ’s what we ’ll cover :
What You’ll Learn
What Are earwig ?
Identification
biological science and Life Cycle
Organic Control Methods
Chemical Control
The decree order Dermaptera , or “ hide wing , ” include about 2,000 species of earwig which are notice worldwide .
About 22 of these live in the US , and the common or European earwig ( Forficula genus Auricularia ) is potential the species you ’ll find concealment in your garden . It will be the focus of this article .
F. auriculariais a glazed , dark reddish - brown insect with tan leg , and short tan - yellow-bellied wings .
The ringlegged earwig ( Euborellia annulipes ) is also far-flung throughout North America , and it ’s most common in the southern states . These do n’t have fender , are more of a carmine color than the European mintage , and have sensationalistic wooden leg .
The tawny , shore , or striped earwig ( Labidura riparia ) is common in tropic to subtemperate region and has a lightheaded tan semblance with two dark streak down the pronotum ( prothorax plate ) . It rarely feed on plants , opt to raven on other insects instead .
Of all of them , this species has the greatest potential as abeneficial insect , and is being studied for use as a biological control broker .
As if the germ themselves were n’t creepy enough , the name earwig means “ pinna creature ” or “ auricle wiggler , ” originating from the belief that they crawl into the capitulum of sleeping people .
While this is not true , and they also do not tunnel into the nous , as some believe , the name has stuck .
aboriginal to Europe , westerly Asia , and Africa , the first reported European earwig outbreak in North America took place in 1911 , in Rhode Island .
For several years after that there were only a few private study of earwig gadfly activity , until they became very legion in Seattle , Washington in 1915 .
From there the insect ’s range spread , becoming establish in Vancouver by 1919 . Since then , it has become a very successful North American inhabitant .
Earwigs are one of the most well - known garden dirt ball : everyone knows what they look like , and most the great unwashed are n’t very fond of them .
The adults are about half to five eighths of an in long , and their antennae are about half the length of their bodies .
The body is tough , savorless , and a shiny red brown , with scant leathery wings .
The big pair of tweezers at the end of the body complete the face , and are the distinguishing feature of these insects .
The male ’s cerci ( forceps ) are large and curving , while the female person have a smaller and more square pair . The forceps are primarily used for comprehend during mating and fending off predators , which is why they ’ll open wide and wave them at you if you galvanise them .
The nut , found in clench in the soil , are about one millimetre in diameter and change from a bone white to brown as they grow .
The nymphs look like smaller versions of the grownup , about quarter to half an column inch long , and have wan Thomas Gray to light brown bodies .
Earwigs mate in the fall and overwinter together in nest in the ground .
In the leap , after storm the male out of her nest , the female lays a cluster of 30 to 50 eggs . She is very maternal , which is uncommon in the insect world . She guard and cleans the nest , incessantly sprain the eggs and keeping them fungus free .
It takes about a workweek for the eggs to hatch , which unremarkably happens in late May to former June . The female person may put a second batch of egg if there are enough nutrient resources available .
Once hatch , she feeds her young by regurgitating pile up intellectual nourishment , much like a bird , until they come forth from the nest as second or third instar nymphs .
The nymphs go through four instars ( green stages ) , exuviate the outer carapace ( consistence casing ) between each instar . 2d and third instar nymphs emerge from the nest to research for food for themselves .
Earwigs seldom fly . They drop the daylight hours hide out in cool , dark , and moist spaces , only issue forth out at dusk to Richard Morris Hunt or provender .
A pheromone in their ordure helps them observe each other , and you will often encounter them aggregated together in group .
They also raise smelly defensive chemicals called quinones , which repels predators .
Decaying organic matter pretend up the biggest part of their diet , but they do feast on insects , stamp shoot , leafage , blossoms , and fruits as well .
Monitoring
merely noticing earwig in your garden is not enough to warrant breaking out the chemicals . Sometimes they can be beneficial in the garden , whether they are breaking down decaying fabric or preying on pest insects .
Monitor your works for damage . Often , the irregular maw earwigs chew out of leaves front like slug , lapin , orcutworm damage , so ascertain for slime trail and do some night scouting with a flashlight to capture the perpetrator in action .
To monitor the earwig situation in your garden , stuff a terra cotta grass with newsprint or moistened straw and place it upside down on a stake or branch .
Alternatively , some raiser make whorl of cardboard to hang in targeted trees . Take the muckle or composition board wave down and shake out into a pail during the twenty-four hour period to see how many are hiding inside .
Of all the garden plant life , earwig favour to nibble on and essay protection inheads of lettuceandcauliflower ; eat corn silk ; chew hole instrawberry , blackberry bush , andraspberryleaves ; and gouge cryptic hole in stone fruits .
They specially love to give onbutterfly bush , dahlia , hollyhock , marigold , andzinniaflowers .
Organic ascendency methods include treatment with products labelled for use in organic operations , and other methods of ascendance besides insect powder .
These let in ethnic , physical , and biological control , which are all part of a practiced integrated pest direction ( IPM ) strategy . understand more about IPM and how to use it in your garden here .
Cultural Control
Keep your garden uncontaminating by off plant debris , decaying fabric , and damage fruit , since earwigs love to hide in and give on dead or dying plant issue .
school the garden in the spring to disturb them , and expose their egg to light and ironic condition .
strain starting seedlings as early as potential so they can recover from any terms emerging nymph and grownup may do .
Physical Control
Physically murder them from your garden can be a very effectual means of reducing damage , and these methods are secure for beneficial insect , deary , and yourself ! you could attain this by trapping them or barring them from entry .
Trapping can be effective since they like to hide during the twenty-four hours and combine together . you could make unsubdivided , good ambuscade at menage , orpurchase trap from Home Depot .
Trap - N - Kill Earwig Traps
or else , rationalise pencil - width holes in the lid of a used plastic container , such as a humble cream cheese tub . fill up halfway with Pisces the Fishes oil or veggie oil , and set around affected plants . You may add soya bean sauce in with the oil as well , as it add together an extra odour to pull the earwigs . They will drown in the liquid .
Alternatively , try out wetting a section of newspaper , rolling it into a thermionic valve , and setting it out near the plant life just before dark . Shake into a bucket of soapy pee in the morning .
you’re able to also catch them on their mode up to damage your tree diagram by wrapping some sticky mag tape , such as canal tape , around the trunks 12 inches or higher from the ground with the gummy side out . This will pin down them when they crawl up at dusk . Be certain to supervene upon it regularly .
Biological Control
There are few natural piranha of earwigs , since they will emit a nasty olfactory sensation when attacked , but shuttle , toads , snakes , and some ground mallet will consume a few .
The tachinid flyBigonicheta spinipenniswill parasitize earwig , and in wet mood certain kingdom Fungi such asErynia forficulaeandMetarhizium anisopliaewill infect them and provide varying levels of ascendancy .
regrettably , there are no biologic options useable for purchase .
Organic Pesticides
Using a combination of cinnamon essential oil and Allium sativum , Gargoil Insect , Mite , and Disease Control is labelled for earwig control and isavailable at Arbico Organics .
Gargoil Insect , Mite , and Disease Control
Pyrethrin and spinosad - based products will also supply control , and are also available at Arbico Organics , such as thisMonterey Take Down Garden SprayandMonterey Garden Insect Spray .
Monterey Garden Insect Spray
Note that pyrethrin will also defeat bees and other beneficials , and spinosad is safe for some beneficials but is toxic to bees , so quash spraying during pollination activities and only if perfectly necessary .
dark spraying , when these dirt ball are active and approachable , be given to be more in force than daytime app .
Diatomaceous terra firma product can be effective against these crawling insects . implement around the base of affect plants and where you know they like to hide .
Perma - Guard Crawling Insect Control
Use a product such as Perma - Guard Crawling Insect Controlfrom Arbico Organicsor Safer Brand Diatomaceous Earthfrom Home Depot .
It is rare to necessitate to resort to chemical pesticides for an infestation of earwig in a garden setting , thanks to the potpourri of constitutive control methods available !
Garden Tech Sevin
If need , however , chemic pesticides that may be used let in carbamate such as carbaryl ( Sevin ) , which isavailable at Home Depot , organophosphates like chlorpyrifos or diazinon , neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid , and Na channel blocker like indoxacarb .
Just a Tiny Pinch!
Even though we were tell as nestling that we ’d only be crimp by earwigs if they felt threaten , my siblings and I still had an irrational fearfulness of those large gaping forceps . establish on how many people are antipathetic to these common insects , it ’s likely you finger the same way .
live that they will feed on another worm I dislike , namely aphid , make me a little more appreciative of their being . But I ’d still rather they did n’t obscure out in the washing hang out to dry , or chew on my precious flowers .
Gardens , in all their exuberant , tasty glory , appeal many undesirable , strange visitors . con how to control othercreepy pestshere :
© Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL right RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . primitively print May 25th , 2021 . Last update April 6th , 2025 . Product photos via Arbico Organics and Home Depot . Uncredited picture : Shutterstock .
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Sylvia Dekker
