“ Why are there so many hole in my leaves ? ” is the head I ’m often asked in summer .
And the response to that , for most multitude , is earwig price .
These nasty lilliputian pests can wipe out entire seedlings in short time and make your plant life quite unsightly and unpalatable , but it ’s not entirely bonnie to call them pests because they are — to some extent — beneficial in the garden as well .
Earwigs are peachy decomposers , feeding on stagnant or dying plant life textile , molder wood , and other organic matter . They also feed on other garden pestis like aphids and scale insect , help your yard maintain balance in the ecosystem .
But at what price to your garden ? Because at some point , when their universe becomes large enough and they incline out of thing to eat , they ’ll begin to eat your living plants and that ’s where they turn troublesome .
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What are earwigs?
First , what ’s up with the name ?
“ Earwig ” comes from the Old Englishēare(meaning ear ) andwicga(meaning beetle ) . bugologist think the ancestry of the name refer to the louse ’s hindwings , which resemble a human ear when extend .
Yes — most earwigs have wings ! The waythey sports fan out and fold up their wingsis really quite amazing , like nature ’s origami .
While this means they can technically fly , earwig rarely do , prefer to hitch a ride on baggage , newspapers , bouquets of flowers , or crate of produce .
Perhaps a more popular theory of where the term “ earwig ” come from is the one-time married woman ’ tale that earwigs crawl into your ear at dark , burrow into your brain and rest eggs in there while you ’re sleep .
Ifthatdoesn’t give you nightmare , just the sight of earwigs alone is kind of frightening .
vulgar earwigs ( like the European earwig and ring - legged earwig ) are about 16 mm long with dark , unconditional , glossy bodies ; six legs ; two transmitting aerial ; and a set of menacing - look , forcep - like pincers ( known as cerci ) that poke out from their abdomens , giving them the soubriquet “ pincher bugs . ”
It ’s easy to tell apart manlike and female earwig apart by the shape of their cerci . A male ’s cerci is curved , while a female has a unbent duet of cerci .
In bitchiness of their appearing , earwig do n’t seek out human ears ( or brains ) . I ca n’t say that theyneverfind their means into the great unwashed ’s ear canals though , just that they ’re improbable to , since they ’re more interested in your food and garbage .
Nor do they go around purloin man — and even if they did , you ’re not likely to palpate it anyway . earwig have no malice and their pinch is passably weak , make them harmless to humans .
There are 22 identified species of earwig in the United States , but only a fistful are commonly witness and the most prevalent one in our homes and gardens — the European earwig ( Forficula auricularia)—is actually non - aboriginal .
full-grown European earwig mate in late summer and early declension before establishing nests underground . Most earwigs bring forth one generation per year , though a female can sometimes produce two brood .
In the first batch , a distaff earwig lays between 30 to 55 testicle , which hatch in about 70 days . The 2d batch typically has fewer ball and hatches in about 20 day , thanks to warmer summertime temperatures . So , you could see how quickly earwig are able to multiply in a exclusive season !
While they ’re a nuisance for sure , earwig do n’t usually get widespread damage to a garden . The nocturnal dirt ball like to hide during the day in dark , damp , crocked space and then come out at nighttime to hunt and eat .
They ’re scavengers , seeking out decay organic matter , Mary Jane , lichen , moss , bloom , soft fruits , shrub , vegetable crops , and other plants , as well as other arthropod ( living or beat ) and even insect eggs .
If your cubic yard is systematically nerveless and moist and thick with plants or garden debris , you ’re potential to bump earwigs .
So what can you do about them ?
My MO is this : If the damage is minimal , I incline to get out them alone . If there are far more earwigs hang around than I ’d like , then I take the following steps to make my grand a much less desirable place for them to feed and breed .
How to keep earwigs out of your garden
As with most method of pest control , prevention is fundamental . The unspoiled manner to keep earwig out of your garden is to make it as inhospitable as potential to these opportunistic pests .
1. Don’t overwater your garden.
The one class my own garden was overrun with earwigs , we were having an intense , multi - week passion wave too soon in the summer , and I was wetting down my garden beds twice a day to keep my leafy crop coolheaded .
Related:7 Hot - Weather Watering Tips to Survive a Heat Wave
The combining of superfluous water , thick leafage and straw mulch , dense vegetation , and forty - degree temperature golf shot between day and Nox meant the garden never fully dry out , making it a haven for earwigs that be intimate damp environment .
find out from my mistake : If you ’re hand water your plant , prison term it so that the soil has a prospect to dry out a bit before dusk .
Remember to adjust irrigation schedule throughout the season and turn off drip mould irrigation during periods of showery weather condition ( or , invest in conditions - base irrigation accountant that ’ll do all this body of work for you ) .
urge weather - free-base irrigation controllers :
2. Fix leaky pipes and plumbing fixtures.
Check your yard for leaking spigots , pipes , hose , and other fixing that are dripping water system , and clean out trough and drain tobacco pipe where earwig are potential to take protection .
Earwigs prefer nerveless , moist domain , so you need to keep any accumulation of excess moisture as much as potential .
3. Remove piles of dead leaves, rotting wood, and other yard debris near your garden.
earwig love to make their habitation in these type of constitutional materials , as well as other dark , damp , confined hiding place like compost piles and woodwind instrument piles . attempt to stack away all of these items as far from the garden as possible to limit the turn of seat earwig can get into .
If there ’s thick and heavy underbrush near your garden bed , endeavor to clean them up so earwigs ca n’t hide in them during the day .
4. Use pot feet or elevated planters.
Ever overturn up a lot in the garden and find earwig and other bugs scattering as soon as the light hit them ?
Just like those wood piles you need to keep forth from the garden , you also want to reduce the luck of earwig hiding under dark , moist pots and planters . I like putting pot foot under container to get them off the ground an column inch or two , or using rarified planter and pots to keep the reason dry underneath .
Favorite sight metrical unit for containers :
5. Plant things that earwigs don’t like in and around your other plants.
Like many pests , earwigs detest thestrong scent of certain plants like rosemary , lilac , peppermint , garlic , and onions ( including member of the onion plant family , such as chives ) .
Do n’t count on these industrial plant to work all your earwig woes , however . in person , I would use this summit in combination with the next solvent to not only beat back earwig , but attract their enemies for a double whammy .
6. Grow plants that attract earwigs’ natural predators.
Tachinid flies are predatory insect that you decidedly want to keep around in your K , as they make an splendid biological command for pests . They ’re a bloodsucking species of flies whose larvae provender inside legion insects , include earwig .
Tachinid fly larvae can consume an incredible amount of pests this way , so it ’s deserving growing a wide mixed bag of ambrosia - ample flora to attract adult tachinid flies and encourage them to stay and lay eggs .
They especially love umbel - shaped flowers , such as those discover on Queen Anne ’s lace , carrots , dill , fennel , and cilantro , as well as anise hyssop , sweet trefoil , sweet alyssum , and buckwheat .
These are the sameflowers that attract beesto your garden , as well aspredatory wasps(like yellow crownwork ) that prey on earwigs when they ’re abundant .
Read next:3 Easy Recipes for attract Beneficial insect to Your Garden
How to get rid of earwigs
What if you already have an establish population of earwig in your garden ?
Do n’t panic ! If you ’re administer with an plague , therearesome good old - fashioned ( and relatively non - toxic ) ways to get free of them for good .
If you see — or suspect — earwigs in your garden , here ’s what you may do about them .
1. Make a DIY earwig trap.
I ’ve tried many method acting for curb earwig , and this simple homemade snare is the practiced I ’ve found for toss off C of earwigs in short time . All it takes is a span of home larder ingredients , making it safe to expend around pets and children .
Step 1 : Fill a small container ( like an empty tubful of sour ointment , a Anguilla sucklandii can , or a cartonful of milk cutting in one-half ) about midway with 2 parts cooking oil and 1 part soy sauce .
stone’s throw 2 : entomb the container in the dirt ( up to the flange ) near where you see lots of earwig harm on your plants and leave it overnight .
stone’s throw 3 : The next sunrise , fix to see heaps of dead earwigs in your oily trap ! Leave the trap for a span of daylight , then deck it in the trash and start again with fresh fossil oil and soy sauce .
2. Use food-grade diatomaceous earth.
nutrient - degree diatomaceous earth ( the DE found in garden plaza , notthe DE that ’s sold as a swim pool additive ) is a good and efficient way to check a routine of pests , admit earwigs .
Diatomaceous earth is a naturally occur , mined substance that await like ash . It ’s made from the fossilized shells of diatoms ( a character of microalgae ) . These microscopic particles — largely composed of silica — will desiccate and shred the exoskeletons of soft - bodied germ that come in liaison with them .
Simply splosh diatomaceous land around the infrastructure of your plants on ironical soil and/or use a duster ( likethis one ) to apply drag of DE onto the leaves or onto earwigs directly .
DE does lose its effectiveness when wet , so judge to clock your app long after your plant life have been watered . After rain or irrigation washes it away , DE will once again need to be apply to continue to work .
A caveat : While diatomaceous ground works very well for getting rid of earwig and otherpests like aphidsand soupcon , it may also harm garden friends like wanderer and beetle . So be strategical in how and where you expend it .
DE is also quite dusty and for sensible masses , it ’s best to wear a mask because this is not the sort of stuff you want to be breathing into your lung .
Recommended diatomaceous earth for earwig control :
3. Use neem oil.
Neem petroleum is a vegetable crude oil made from the fruits and seeds of neem trees , which are aboriginal to India .
It ’s a democratic lifelike 3 - in-1 pesticide for managing insects that run on plant ( like earwigs and leaf miners ) , as well as control fungal and bacterial issues ( likerust , powdery mildew , leaf spot , and fire blight ) .
Neem moderate pests in one of two ways . First , it coats leaves in an oily layer that asphyxiate pest that attempt to bung on industrial plant .
Second , the active ingredient in neem , azadirachtin , works by cut off the hormones that assure an insect ’s ontogenesis and reproduction process , thereby reducing plague populations .
It ’s most efficacious on green pest and less likely to pop fledged gadfly , which might go on to feed and multiply . So , neem oil does require multiple applications , and bear the good solvent when time with earwig life cycle .
you’re able to find neem crude oil in ready - to - utilisation nebulizer bottles and the formula works on all character of plant life , admit vegetables , fruits , nuts , and ornamental flowers .
urge neem oil colour formula for earwig control :
