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The Resilient Earwig

There's nothing extra ordinary about the earwig. No super hard shell that keeps pesticides from penetrating, they're not fast enough to out run even a sleepy eye housewife with a fly swatter and yet it seems you can't kill these things. In reality it's not that you don't smoosh the thing all over your bathroom floor on the bottom of your shoe, it's dead alright. It is however that with one dead another pops up in its place. Not so much like german roaches mind you but later that day or perhaps even a week later you'll find another wayward earwig near the spot where his kin earlier lost his life. It is difficult at times to control the earwig let alone achieve zero population in or around your home.

While some insects lay thousands of eggs and that is how their colony size gets so large, earwigs usually only produce one generation per year 50 to 60 eggs at a time. While the earwig is harmless to you and I they can be formidable on other bugs. The female actually protects her nest until they eggs hatch which is quite rare in the insect world. The earwig pincers are a source of fear for most but they are not even powerful enough to cause but a tiny prick. Earwigs do posses fully developed wings but rarely fly. Stories go that the earwig seeks out human ears to crawl in and nest but there is very little truth to the myth. While is does happen that earwigs and other bugs have entered into sleeping peoples ears, it is not something these insects do on purpose in order to lay eggs and bore into your brain.

Earwigs live in the woods just fine but our homes offer the perfect place for them to thrive as well. No amount of prevention is enough to completely thwart the earwig and in reality having a balanced population of this and other bugs is actually a good thing. Earwigs are mostly scavengers and help recycle debris around our house. The problem of population growth is not due to extreme egg laying but because we give such conducive conditions to the development of the large numbers that eventually invade our homes. When we constantly water and re-mulch and put decorative statues and planters on the ground we complete the needs list of the earwig. Moisture is critical for their survival and being nocturnal they find not only the safety and darkness under our landscape but the dampness that collects makes for the perfect nest. Over time these conditions allow the earwig to explode in numbers and that is when we have such persistent problems in our homes.

Earwigs cannot survive for very long in dry conditions and for that reason they do not purposely intend to come inside. Moisture is key to earwigs and where ever it collects is where you will find them. Mulch and leaf litter is the most common spot to find not only adults but also nesting sites and most of the young. These environments hold a lot of moisture and also provide dark places in which they rest in during the day. In the fall when earwigs prepare to hibernate they dig chambers deep into the soil which is another reason they are very plentiful in this area. Dry spots around your home may have an earwig or two but not for long. As they begin to dry out they will move looking for a damp place in which to nest.

The earwig is not the most agile insect but they are very good at finding ways into a home. Small cracks in the foundation or gaps in doors and windows more than enough for an earwig to enter. Front door thresholds and sliding glass doors are in my experience the most used entry of an earwig. Not only because these areas are difficult to seal but also because we encourage earwigs to be in the general area at all times. Our welcome mats provide perfect cover while our decorative statues or planters do the same. The dampness that collects at the bottom of these objects is a 'welcome mat' of their own for the earwig and since it is so close to the main entries it is only logical that earwigs come in these areas far more often. So it is not that the earwig has built up some great resistance to insecticides or that they are extremely tough and can't be killed. It is however that we the homeowner provide everything they need and continue this long enough until the problem needs major treatments to bring it back down to a acceptable level.

Article Source: GardenGap.com

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You can Prevent Massive Earwigs with simple changes to your home. Simple easy to use hints that will Keep Your Earwigs Outside.