Earwigs are not some special bug that cannot be killed. They do have wings but seldom fly and they are not super fast so they escape panicked homeowners with rolled up newspapers. Still, earwigs can be very frustrating in that you kill one in your home and an hour later up pops another. This sort of thing occurs all summer long and no matter how you spray or use home remedies the earwig keeps coming.
Earwigs lay 50 to 60 eggs early in the spring and the female is unique in that she guards the brood from enemies. The babies are born looking like the adults and grow via gradual metamorphosis. The insect is basically a scavenger eating some plants, other insects but can dine on many foods. They are nocturnal creatures and prefer to stay secluded in moist conditions during the day. Earwigs have fully developed wings but seldom fly and they are also armed with pincers but those too are rarely used. People have reported being pinched by earwigs but the forceps are not even strong enough to break a humans skin. It would seem that with such small numbers being produced and there seemingly frail way of life the earwig would not be such a problem for the average home but in reality they can at times infest by the hundreds and be very difficult to control.
Earwigs do best in damp situations such as leaf litter or mulch. Home owners oblige this six legged creature by adding more mulch every year on top of old and by constant watering of plants and landscaping that is close to the home. This yearly practice allows the population of the earwig to grow with each new season. Since earwigs survive the winters by hibernating the adults and new born combine to increase the numbers every twelve months. This build up continues until finally the numbers explode and it seems like ‘over night’ a home can be over run.
The drier the area the less you’ll have earwigs and this is why inside populations can’t survive very long. Earwigs are constantly on the move looking for food and it’s usually an opportune crack or open door that earwigs use to get in. They often find their way to the bathroom of a house because of the lure of life giving water. There is no express strategy of the earwig to infest your home. It is mostly the wandering tendencies that eventually lead the earwig inside. As populations get bigger and food competition is tougher or if things dry out a bit you’ll have earwigs on the move looking for a better situation which often leads them inside.
From our ready made earwig habitats it is an easy transition under the threshold or over the runners of a back sliding glass door. Earwigs are not great climbers or very agile but even the smallest cracks are easily managed by this insect. Once inside they seek out moisture and that is why you’ll find them in bathrooms or kitchens if they make it that far. They can and do sneak in many other areas like window cracks or foundation faults but doors are the most common for the mere fact so many use what you’ve provided just outside this spot. For these reasons the earwig is a difficult insect to eliminate and it can seem fruitless to treat time and again just to have new earwigs just take the dead ones place. It’s always better to eliminate the harborage areas first and to treat later when it comes to the earwig.
Keeping Earwigs Out Of Your Ears is as easy as putting the correct information between them. Stop Earwig Populations before they explode and infest your home.
Comments are closed.