How to Get Rid of Earwigs Before They Destroy Your Plants

Have you ever noticed that some years are particularly bad for earwigs? Here in Michigan, we have seen a huge spike in pest pressure from earwigs around homes, in yards, and throughout gardens.

While spotting an earwig or two is nothing to worry about, they can become a nuisance. Large numbers of earwigs can kill landscaping plants and wreak havoc in a garden. 

Don’t let an earwig infestation destroy your garden! Instead, learn how to get rid of earwigs with these five easy tips for preventing them.

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Whatever Is Bugging You

Are the pests in your garden really getting to you? It is so discouraging to plant out a garden and spend hours caring for it, only to watch your precious plants succumb to pest damage!

I want to shed a little light on pests and the reasons why they may be such a headache in your garden. I hope you will use these free resources to identify, control, and prevent whatever is bugging you in your garden:

• Effective DIY Pest Prevention Methods

• Guide to Organic Pesticides for Home Gardens

• How to Get Rid of Wasps & Hornets

• Preventing & Controlling Tomato Hornworms

• How to Get Rid of Slugs and Snails in the Garden

• Prevent Squash Vine Borer Effectively

• Strategies to Prevent & Control Squash Bugs

What Are Earwigs

Contrary to old superstitions, earwigs do not crawl into your ears! They are insects in the order Dermaptera with flat, elongated bodies that are reddish-brown to black in color. 

Earwigs are ¼ to 1 ¼ inches long and are easily identified by the large pincers on the end of their bodies. They are nocturnal, so they hide in dark, damp places during the day and come out to feed at night.

Earwigs are omnivorous. They eat live and decaying plant matter, flowers, and fruit, but they will also eat other insects like aphids, mites, and moth eggs. This means that earwigs can surprisingly be a beneficial insect or a major problem when overpopulation leads to significant plant damage.

Conditions That Attract Earwigs

A lot of people do not realize that they are actually inviting earwigs to come into their yard or garden with their methods, and then providing food for them. The truth is, you may be inadvertently keeping earwigs around!

Earwigs have a very specific type of environment that allows them to thrive. Changing just a few factors in a garden can make it not as hospitable to earwigs. 

Earwigs are especially drawn to cool, damp, sheltered areas, which means garden mulch, densely planted beds, and other areas around the home can provide the perfect environment for them to hide and thrive. If you have a lot of leaf litter lying around, earwigs will find their ideal ecosystem in your garden.

They’re most active at night, so you may not realize just how many are around until you start noticing the damage they leave behind. The females especially like to hide underneath leaf litter where they will go dormant and overwinter. 

If you are seeing damage from earwigs now, the problem actually started the year prior.

Identifying Earwig Damage

Look for these signs of earwig damage on your plants:

• Holes in Leaves - Earwigs will chew irregularly shaped, ragged holes in leaves.

• Damaged Corn - They will feed on corn silk, which prevents proper pollination of the corn.

• Ruined Fruits - You will notice holes and hollowed out fruit on soft, sugary crops like raspberries, tomatoes, and strawberries.

• Damaged Flowers - Earwigs will damage flowers, blossoms, and petals. The damage looks similar to caterpillar or slug damage.

The Life Cycle of Earwigs

Image courtesy of Colorado State University Extension.

In early spring, female earwigs look for a mate and then lay about 60 eggs per cluster loosely under the soil. They live up to a half inch below the soil, but no deeper.

Earwigs hatch from eggs into nymphs, and then mature into adults. Those mature earwigs overwinter and start the cycle again. 

If something doesn’t break that life cycle, they can overpopulate an area. That is why so many people write in after a mild winter saying that the earwig population is out of control—winter didn’t get cold enough to break their life cycle.

For the last three years, we have had mild winters here in Michigan. Recent studies have shown that the earwig population has almost doubled every year for those three years, leading to an overpopulation problem! 

How to Get Rid of Earwigs

Slugs and earwigs are not even closely related, but they do thrive in similar conditions: cool, damp, and dark. That's why some of the same methods I shared in How to Get Rid of Slugs also work great to get rid of earwigs.

If you’re wondering how to get rid of earwigs, here are five easy ways to prevent them from making a home in your garden:

1. Remove Leaf Litter - One of the best ways to combat an earwig infestation is to remove all the leaf litter, garden debris, and cardboard mulch in your garden come fall. I know that a lot of gardeners like to let the leaf litter sit on the ground because of its benefits, but it is an ideal host for earwigs! I highly recommend cleaning up and removing it if you are serious about combating earwigs.

2. Remove Leaves That Touch the Soil - During the growing season, remove any plant leaves that are touching the soil, especially on plants like broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, and zucchini. Doing this will allow more airflow, and dry out the soil a little which makes it less hospitable for earwigs, who breathe through their skin.

3. Reduce Their Food Supply - Keep food sources, especially high-sugar foods like tomatoes, trellised and off the ground. This can reduce damage simply because earwigs prefer to stay low to the ground. This is not a foolproof method, but it does help. (Here’s more information on how to make a DIY tomato cage and how to stake tomato plants to keep them off the ground.)

4. Don’t Plant Potatoes - To reduce the number of earwigs attracted to your garden, try not planting potatoes in your garden. I know, this is a sad one, but high starch, high carbohydrate crops like potatoes are an earwig’s favorite food. Plus, the dense foliage of potatoes is close to the ground, creating a prime habitat for earwigs. 

5. Water During Midday - I know this tip seems absolutely crazy because you’re never supposed to water a garden during midday; that is, unless you have an earwig infestation. Earwigs love damp places and watering in the early morning or late evening helps the moisture stick around, while watering midday gives it a chance to evaporate and dry out before night comes. On the rare occasion that I have to resort to this method, I still avoid watering during the hottest part of the day and avoid getting water on the leaves and fruits to help prevent sunburn.

I hope you’ll use these simple tips to keep earwigs out of your garden. To get rid of the earwigs right now that are already in your garden, try using diatomaceous earth.