How to Kill & Prevent Earwigs

Earwigs are easy to identify and kill in home gardens.

Earwigs are an easily identified pest in home gardens, with their conspicuous pincers located on the rear of their abdomen. Earwigs use their pincers -- called cerci -- to defend themselves against predators. Earwigs can be a beneficial insect in home gardens, since they are an important predator of many garden insects such as aphids and mites. However, earwigs also eat new plant growth, and large populations of earwigs can decimate soft fruit and flower buds of garden plants. Earwigs are easy to control without chemical pesticides, and you can prevent their presence in your landscape with proper garden design and maintenance.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Plastic pipe
• Water bucket
• Soap

How to Kill Earwigs

1. Observe your garden carefully to locate where earwigs are most active. Look for small holes chewed in flower and fruit buds near damp areas. Earwigs are nocturnal insects and hide in moist shaded areas during the day.

2. Place a plastic pipe two to three inches in diameter and one to two feet long in your area where earwigs are a problem.

3. Fill a bucket with soap and water.

4. Check the plastic tube in the morning and shake the earwigs that have collected in the tube overnight into the soap and water bucket to drown them.

5. Check the pipe and kill the earwigs daily until there are only a few earwigs in the pipe each day. In small numbers, earwigs will not cause significant damage to garden plants.

How to Prevent Earwigs

1. Remove heavy mulches, low-growing weeds and ground covers that create favorable hiding locations for earwigs from your garden.

2. Move compost piles, stacks of wood or other garden features that create a dark, damp micro-climate that supports earwigs away from your garden.

3. Reduce the volume of water you apply when irrigating your garden plants. Drying out the soil and garden environment will make the area less appealing to earwigs.

Tips & Warnings

• Although earwigs are harmless to humans, the small insects will pinch in self-defense when carelessly handled.

References

• University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program; Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Earwigs; M. L. Flint; September 2002
• University of Wisconsin-Extension Cooperative ExtensionControlling Earwigs; P.J. Pellitteri; 1999
• Colorado State University; Earwigs; Judy Sedbrook; 2010
• University of Rhode Island; Earwigs; 1999