How to Get Rid of Earwigs

Earwigs are part of the garden cleanup crew. If you don't have an infestation, the best policy is to live and let live. However, if it's springtime, large populations of immature earwigs can damage tender garden plants, feeding mainly at night.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Vegetable Oil
• Newspaper
• Rubber Bands
• Rubber bands
• plastic bags for disposal
• bird bath
• low-sided cans
• bird feeder

1. Eliminate hiding places. Search out and remove damp, dark hiding places such as leaf debris, wood piles, upturned pots and underneath stepping stones. This step alone will help more than anything else you can do.

2. Encourage hungry birds into your garden by setting out a bird bath or feeders. Birds hunt and consume amazing amounts of insects.

3. Make earwigs traps by mimicking their favorite hiding places. Loosely roll sections of newspaper, secure with a rubber band and soak in water until thoroughly wet.

4. Place the homemade earwig traps in areas where damage has been found. The traps should be in place before nightfall. Use several traps for best results.

5. Pick up the traps every morning. Earwigs will have found their way deep inside the rolls of newspaper during the night.

6. Dispose of the traps in a plastic bag or tightly covered container. Do not compost.

7. Fill low-sided cans with 1/2 inch vegetable oil and place on the ground. Earwigs will find their way in and drown.

Tips & Warnings

• Earwigs look far more horrible than they actually are but they can deliver a painful bite if handled.

• Earwigs hide during the daylight hours. Their nocturnal habits can cause their downfall.