If you have spent anytime in your backyard this summer, you may have found uninvited guests, that have you earwigged out.
Assistant Professor of Agriculture at Dalhousie University Paul Manning says there are several reasons for the increase in the insects.
“Probably linked to temperature and rainfall. It can sometimes be a milder winter as well,” Manning says.
He says earwigs are usually found in small spaces where it’s dark and damp, “Under a potted plant, under the caps on the deck, on a post, anywhere they can squeeze in. People find them, in their mailbox, or on their clothing if it has been hanging out on a line.”
But he reassures, those small spaces, don’t include your ears, “That is an urban myth. Earwig is a derivative of ear wing. Earwigs have this kind of shield shaped golden plate on their back which is their outside wing cover. If they unfold their inner wings, which they use to fly, those are actually shaped like the inner ear.”
If you have a garden, you may find that they have been feeding on your plants, Manning says, “Earwigs are omnivores. Sometimes they eat other insects and sometimes they eat greens. You can find them on things like kale or basil and lettuces, and they can do quite a bit of damage. They can also be a problem on broccoli or cauliflower.”
Earwigs commonly surface in late June, and their population builds. Manning says,”At this time of year, there are a lot of adults, the young have reached their maturity. They gather in clusters.”
The most common species for Canada is the European or common earwig, and the female will lay up to 60 eggs, “The moms actually care for the babies which is unusual for insects,” Manning says.
There are some positives to what some may consider to be creepy crawlers, “Insects play a number of roles in an ecosystem. If you can imagine an earwig on an apple tree. The leaves of an apple tree are not delicious for an earwig, so they decide to eat aphids instead. In some places, I was recently reading a study from Europe, farmers are looking at ways to increase the numbers of earwigs in their orchards because they are so good at controlling aphid population.”
The good news is, Manning says, one or two inside a home isn’t uncommon, but they are primarily found outdoors. They could turn up in a damp basement though.
“If you are looking for ways to control earwigs sensibly, take newspaper and wet it and roll it up. Put that in the garden and they will often climb into that. You can then shake the earwigs into the compost bin or flush them, and it is a pretty effective way to get rid of them. Search the keyword cultural control and that will give you some options of controlling them without using chemicals,” Manning says.
