Over the years as a bug man you get pretty good at figuring out what bug a customer is trying to describe just from a few tell tale words. Of course there is the other side to this where they say. “It’s black and has wings and I think it has teeth,what is it?” Then maybe even the best of us need a little more information.
The earwig is one that is almost always described as having ‘pinchers’. Technically it’s ‘pincers’ but nobody really calls them that. Some will say they are on the front and others will tell you they are the size of a pair of pliers but pinchers none the less is always a key word that leads me to an answer for my client.
The pinchers on an Earwig are almost completely harmless, I say almost because they can arch their backs and give you a wee tiny prick. So on the scale of harmless they are about a 0.001.
Actually the pinchers are used in their little world for defense, capturing and holding the prey that 
they catch so they can eat them and it’s also how you can tell the boys from the girls. For the most part Earwigs eat just a little of everything including plant leaves, other insects, dog food, garbage or organic material. Usually the leaf damage they do is very little and you wouldn’t notice much if any of your pets food missing if it weren’t for the occasional Earwig who gets trapped in the slippery bowl.
Preferring to feed at night this insect would rather be left alone but their high need for moisture can bring them into our homes from time to time. There are occasions where the ‘nuisance’ becomes a full fledged invasion and that is about the only time you really need to consider some type of control method.
The $64,000 dollar question / How to get rid of Earwigs?
I’m often asked this question and I see it on forums and comment sections of web sites all the time. The biggest reasons that Earwigs are entering your home are for food and for moisture. Eliminate those two and you’ll be left with only the few who just wander in by chance. Now you might be saying, “I don’t live in a moist house, why would they come in my home?” The answer is simply that they don’t know your home is not some Mecca for a nice moist bed of leafy green plants they can eat. They just know that outside it may be to dry and they’ve got to go on the move to find what they need. Or sometimes the sprinkler head may be pointed towards your home and the excess moisture in your mulch allows them to build up in large numbers and as they wander they find a crack or slip in under the door thinking they’ll find much of the same environment inside. Regardless the common denominator is the moisture and they are always in search of it. Food is the other reason and there is not much you can do about plant leaves or organic material. You can however try to limit leaving pet food just outside the door or inside next to the sliders. They will find it every time and once they have their fill it’s off to your bedroom to hopefully catch the Tonight show with Conan O’Brien.(He’s quite good) There are other helpful hints in this category that you can read up on that will help a great deal. Most often a simple crack and crevice treatment and a little baiting outside will be all that’s required from your pest control professional and the problem should subside. One other home remedy that I hear works quite well is to dampen some newspapers and roll it up. Place the paper just outside where you think
you have Earwigs and they will crawl into the papers seeking moisture and die. I’m not sure if it’s the ink that kills them or the story about the economy on page two but according to some old timers I know, they say it works.
Whenever I see an Earwig in my home I almost always try to scoop him (or her) up and put them back outside. The benefits of having them far out weigh the need for getting out my 300 feet of hose and blasting the exterior of my house with 30 gallons of insecticide. I used to pick them up with my fingers but then I got pinched a few times so now I use a dust pan or piece of paper. I guess you might say I have a low pain tolerance.
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{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
Can you please tell me if the earwig will spin a web in the leaves from the plant it eats? I found a leaf with a web spun in it with baby earwigs hiding in it.
Thank you.
Hey Sonja,
Eawigs don’t spin webs but while the mother is tending the eggs one of her priorities is to keep mold from growing on them. It happens quite a bit and she has to clean it off or it ruins the eggs. My guess is that these babies were newly hatched and some of the eggs got moldy to give it a web like appearance and never hatched. Normally the mother eats the moldy eggs to keep the other eggs healthy and fiercely defends them and the young. Maybe she died and these babies were able to hatch anyway.
There are a bunch of other bugs that spin webs on leaves like spiders, caterpillars and others and maybe it was just coincidence but I’d bet the first scenario is more likely.
That was a great question by the way. Awesome stuff.
Thanks for reading.
The Bug Doctor
Thank you Bug Doctor!
Sonja
Always a pleasure, keep me in mind for any more info you or a friend may need.
The Bug Doctor
Will the newspaper trick work inside the house??
What about a magazine instead of a newspaper??
I don’t see much outside. But I’ve seen them in my bathrooms, kitchen and my hamper. Eww. Today alone, I seen 7 of them.
I was reading the info on them and I have been using the sprinkler.
Any help would be nice.
Thanks,
Kristin
Hi Kristin,
The newspaper just needs to be damp and it should attract them inside or out. You might look just outside the bathroom wall to see if there is someway you can treat them ‘ before ‘ they get inside.
Thanks for reading!
The Bug Doctor
Thanks for your feedback!!
Kristin
I forgot to mention the magazine, as long as it’ll stay damp it should work. Some have that thick almost water proof cover and I don’t think that would work.
Your welcome
The Bug Doctor
You mentioned in this webpage that the “benefit” of having them around out weigh killing them. What are the benefits to having them around. I just bought a house in northern VA, and they are all over my back porch. I do not have a problem inside the house, and would not mind them in the yard, but I just hate seeing them scurrry out of the welcome mat when ever we step on it. I have since moved the mat. Also, (I hope i get to ask 2 questions) I have a “potted garden” and as I was transplanting some herbs from one pot to another, I noticed a number of these critters running in and out of the dirt! Most of the plants are doing okay, but my poor dill plant looks like it is suffering
could these guys be the culprate?
Thanks!
Lloyd Moore
Hi Lloyd,
Earwigs are beneficial because they are one of nature’s recyclers. They eat dead bugs and decaying organic material for the most part. They are good to have around and usually don’t attack ‘healthy’ plants, preferring the dying or rotting ones. That said they do a bit from time to time. Mostly if the competition for food is high. So if you have A LOT of earwigs or other such recyclers they might go after your dill plant or other healthy ones. If they are no bother inside you can just let them be, if they are a bit much you can sprinkle some DE (diamotaceous earth) on the soil to curb things. Try moving the dill plant to another location and see if that helps.
Thanks so much for your question and feel free to ask as many as you like anytime you have the need.
The Bug Doctor
Wow, so glad I found this page! Just found one of these little buggers crawling across my kitchen counter late tonight, and it kinda creeped me out! First one we’ve seen in this apartment, and we’ve been here just over a year now. Certainly hope its the last one I see as well. The little rear “pincer” things are creepy!
I’m glad you found me too.
In the spirit of an Irish blessing;
May your infestations always be light
and may you read this blog often, not out of need
but that you like this site!
I better stick to writing about bugs!!!!
Thanks for reading.
The Bug Doctor
I was wondering if there was some kind of spray or repelent we could put around our windows to keep them away. My bedroom window is not really a place I can try the news paper trick though my kitchen will thank you. It’s now summer in Oregon where it gets HOT so we, like most people, leave our windows open for the cool night air.I’ve been having trouble sleeping the past week or two because I have woken up a few times with them on my walls, inches from my head, or the worst is when I wake up with them on my face or hands. (I screem and wakeup the whole house) The only place they could be coming in is my window but the screen is new, my ceiling air vent is closed and there are no cracks that I can find. Also, do you happen to know how far they can crawl without finding food?
You’re a life saver!
Earwigs seem to bring out the best questions. I would say an earwig can crawl quite a ways if driven by hunger but as a normal nightly routine they probably don’t stray any great distance.
Check your screens Zarah and see if there is any spots that aren’t real tight. If ascetics are no problem I would temporarily seal the frame with scotch tape or stuff in some cotton. If you do stuff it you can lightly spray Raid on the cotton and that may act as a repellant. Check below the window area and see if there isn’t a reason they are so close. Tall grass, heavy flowers, buckets or planters on the ground, anything that you can remove or treat. Also, do you have gutters just above? If so check to see if they are filled with leaves as this is a prime spot. Just so you can get some sleep, try the newspaper roll on either side of your bed on the floor. Maybe put down some plastic so you don’t get anything wet. Slide the bed far enough away from the wall so nothings touching. This should help a lot but let me know if they keep coming.
My advice for the weekend is to climb to the top of Multnomah Falls, have lunch and enjoy the scenery. That won’t help with the earwigs any but it sure is beautiful…lol (loved it when I lived there.)
Thanks for reading, stay in touch
The Bug Doctor
Hello,
Do earwigs eat or damage roots? I have some plants that have root damage and a bunch of earwigs this year. Also, our nectarine tree is infested with the earwigs. If you cut the fruit in half they are in the seed. What would be the best why to get rid of these?
Appreciate any help you can give!
Tina
Hi Tina,
Yes they are known to eat and damage roots and they do go for seeds especially on new garden plantings but yours is the first instance I’ve heard of eating fruit seeds. They must be hungry.
For your tree I would not spray any insecticide liquids. Perhaps try Niban granule baits at the base. It sounds to me like you have so many that they are grabbing any food that’s available. In a few days you might try a hose with a jet nozzle, try to knock them out of the tree and then re-bait.
Good Luck with this one. Sounds like a doozy. Let me know if this worked and maybe I can help further as it develops.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
Hi, I am so glad I found this! I have recently discovered a lot of earwigs in our home and I am so grossed out I don’t know if I will sleep tonight. I have killed about 7 so far in the past hour alone, so they’re getting worse by the day. I am also annoyed that they seem to be a culprit in eating my potted plants outside and they only seem to like the ones closest to my doors… since I have found out we have a problem with them, I have been doing some reading and we recently put mulch outside in our front yard this year along the foundation no less and have read they LOVE that too.
I was wondering if it is also possible for them to come in to the house through air vents. We just turned our A/C on this week and before that, I never saw a single one in our home. I’ve found them in my daughter’s room, the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and hallway thus far, so basically every room.
How do I stop them completely and as fast as possible without using people, pet, and environmentally harmful chemicals?
Nicole,
Maybe move your plants away from the front door for a short period of time. I would also use Niban granules all around the home, especially on the new mulch. You can pick this up at a DIY store or perhaps a big box store. The damp rolled newspaper trick seems to work well for a lot of people. If you are watering heavily near the home try and cut that back somewhat as they seek high moisture.
Most pest control sprays are not deadly (to humans) as is their reputation. If you need a professional to look at it and treat call out a few for estimates and share your concerns. They’ll walk you through it and you can decide if that is right for you then.
Check out my article on “3 easy steps to get rid of earwigs” for more hints and see if that can offer some help.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
hello, so i did some reading about earwigs on wikipedia and found that the type that are coming into my home are forficulinas (one of the more common types) i was curious if the newspaper trick will work and also what kind of baits or traps i could get. they seem to want to come in through the doors and hang out on the counter in the kitchen… help!!
Hi Emily,
You get an ‘A’ for your research today. I’ll just call it a European earwig as they are the most common in that family and more than likely what you have.
All earwigs need moisture and the damp newspaper rolled up should work for any of them. Some people use a cat or tuna can trap. Empty the can but don’t rinse it. Fill it with a half inch or so of vegetable oil and place several outside where you suspect them. In the morning you should have a lot of drowned earwigs.
For bait I like Niban. It is a granule type bait that you shake out in the same areas you suspect and works well.
To keep them out you should put some sort of door sweep or seal at the bottom and sides if needed. If you have a welcome mat or potted plants near the door try to remove them for a week or so til things get better. Check out http://pestcemetery.com/3-easy-steps-rid-earwigs/
These steps are quick and easy and work very well.
Great job on doing your homework, you aren’t to far away from being earwig free.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
HELP!! My home is being taken over by pincher bugs! I dont have any house plants or do I water my lawn. They are in my basement, bathroom, and I have killed a few in the bedrooms. Your newspaper trick does seem to be the solution for us. Do you have any other solutions? Thanks so much for the help!
Hi kathy,
Have you tried to use un-rinsed tuna cans filled about 1/4 of the way with cooking oil? Works great too. You should also look at getting some Niban bait to sprinkle around the foundation of your home.
Moisture is key so perhaps there is some source that’s not real obvious. Dripping water spicket, leaky or filled gutter or even the way the water may drain towards the home during a rain. Also keep grass trimmed around the foundation and move any planters or things that have sat for awhile as earwigs will live under these things.
Don’t forget about your local bugman if things don’t get better. He or she may look at things first hand and solve it quickly for you.
Till then, make sure to tip the paper boy, you don’t want to miss getting any papers.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
I Dont i replie i dont like earwing when i was geting out of the shower i saw one as i was leaving out one fall on me i went crazy are you share the Newpaper will
work dont lie PLEASE.
Alana,
It’ll work fine but there are the other tricks you can use too. You can find most of them in the comments above.
They are harmless little bugs so don’t break your ankle by falling in the shower. Maybe take a fly swatter in with you so you’re armed and ready if it happens again. I’d say a newspaper but that’ll get messy and you should be using them for your traps.
Stay clean & thanks for reading.
The Bug Doctor
Okay..just thinking about having one in my room freaks me out. I just saw one on my wall like 15 minutes ago and I don’t know how there getting into my room. I have an air conditioner in the window. It seems that thier comming from the same area the ants are. I haven’t seen an ant since I sealed a hole up but i’m still worried about them to. The pincher bug was on the wall by my window. How do I get rid of both the pincher bugs and the ants? I don’t have it too bad. I only seen like 5 to 6 ants in here and only 1 pincher bug but I saw an ant carry one of them so there must be more than 1 pincher in here. I can’t believe it!! I have dust behind my bed because i had to get a wire put in my wall.
Help!!
I have also recently saw these bugs a lot in my home (summer perhaps) and tonight I will be setting up a lot of Newspaper traps. I’m not the cleanest guy so these bugs don’t come as a surprise to me. Anywho, I managed to capture a few of these bugs on my bathroom tile (about 4 of them, Ew) and i noticed all were female. After about a day or so I noticed these small black droppings they were making and got worried.
Pictures provided. (warning, shows teenagers dirty ground)
http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt130/Jonfromwork/P1010053.jpg
http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt130/Jonfromwork/P1010050.jpg
Since these were female Earwigs, could these possibly be eggs? Also for the traps, should I just roll a moist newspaper up, or put the moist newspaper into another tube? Thanks in advance.
I know that teenage dirt anywhere! Got two of my own.
Not eggs, probably just teenage earwigs that are messy……lol
Naw, just fecal matter, eggs are almost always laid in soil. Great pics though. Good call on the gender.
For the newspaper just roll it loosely and maybe a rubber band around it. If you don’t have cat’s try a empty can of tuna not rinsed with 1/2 inch of cooking oil in bottom. They’ll love that too. You can probably find a can in your teens room……….oh I’m bad
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
I have to many pincher bugs, it started out a few here and there on the counter on the bathroom floor, but now they are everywhere! they crawl on the couch in my babies crib, we even find them in our dishes. What do we do cause it is really grose
Good info! Thx.
I just had my AC repair guy out because my outside unit stopped kicking on suddenly. He opened the electronics panel and found a mound (500-600) earwigs amassed around the wiring and contacts. Apparently they are drawn to the hum of the system. One of more of them ended up getting fried when the contacts arched to turn on the unit. That in turn fried the contacts and cost me a couple hundred bucks. How can I keep them out of my AC unit if they are drawn to the hum? Any ideas?
Teara and Michael,
I sort of ‘double approved/ without commenting back so this is for both of you. My apologies.
Teara–They are gross but harmless. For the baby crib make sure it’s not up against the wall and put pie tins under the 4 legs. pour some water in it to make a moat of sorts and that’ll suffice so you can sleep at night. (and baby too) You can put bread bags or plastic baggies over the legs so the water doesn’t rust or damage the crib legs–oh and put a dab of dish soap in the pan. Also you can stuff towels at the base of the doors to keep them out of certain rooms. I would suggest a call to a bug man for quick knockdown only because you sound so concerned. Then after his treatment works please go back and read the different articles on earwigs. (I think I have 4 or 5 now) They are full of good tips and should help you out. http://pestcemetery.com/category/earwigs/
Michael,
Been there done that–I once had a well man come out for the same type of thing but mine was fire ants on the contacts. Needless to say I only mumbled when he asked me what I did for a living and I gave him his check for ‘brushing’ a bunch of fried ants away. Not sure if it’s the hum so much but maybe. I do know bugs like the warmth and the a/c drip line is a constant source of moisture that they need. Try to re route that away from the unit and then I would simply put a nice barrier of either Niban (which they eat to die) or Talstar granules (they only need to contact and die) around the unit at all times. Also make sure you have the area as clean as possible.ie;weed whacked, no potted plants too close or things left on the ground to long. They use it for hiding and venture to other spots as the population grows. If you have a well or stand by generator make sure to do the same.
Sorry about the expensive earwigs—-that bites
We recently fenced in our yard with a vinyl fence. Tonight when I went outside I noticed thousands of pincher bugs on the fence. I shinned a light on the house and there were thousands there (I’m not exaggerating either). I’ve killed a few in the house each day for the last week as well. Any tricks to deal with so many??? I sprayed the outside of the house with Ortho Home Defense Max (works great for house centipedes) but really hate using it as we have pets in the house (even thought I spray it on the house there is still some spray that is getting on the grass, that the dogs may munch on). I will have to get some newspaper and try that.
Jaime,
Sounds like you’d need a lot of newspapers!
Have you considered using Niban granule bait? It works very well and you don’t need to cake it on the lawn. Most of it will fall down into the thatch where only the bugs will get it. The dogs will smell it and be sniffing around for sure but they would need to get at quite a bit to have any problems and that is pretty unlikely. Also, if you are watering the lawn try to cut back if you can. For the house, just concentrate on entry points to keep the spray to a minimum.ie;door frames and thresholds, etc. If it continues you might consider calling in a pro. They have the equipment and can treat the yard much better and the problem will be short lived.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
Very informative website…Thank you for all of the tidbits!! I was going to pay a fortune to have the house sprayed, now I will try the cheaper ways first.
Wishing you a wonderful day!
Wendy
Thank you Wendy,
I hope everything works out well for you and not so well for the earwigs.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
Hi Bug Doctor. Thanks for all of the info thus far! My question is – how do earwigs (I have had many in my apartment and am grossed out) find the moist spots or good places for them to eat/sleep/lay eggs? Do they “smell” it or do they just happen to wander into it, then continue on that direction until they run out and have to find a different place? Thanks in advance.
Hello Sarah,
Earwigs aren’t known to have any keen sense of smell and don’t have ‘cerci’ like roaches do that detects odors, temperature or harmful substances like pesticides. They are nocturnal and need a dark place #1 to spend the daylight hours in. So for that they just find it with their eyes. I’d say that in their nights travels if they find a moist area they would not wander to far so they could use it for sleeping the day away. If they can’t find moisture they will dehydrate and die so in extreme dryness you might see them during the day.
Although I can’t say for sure, I’d be willing to bet that they can sense moisture much like you or I might ‘feel’ moisture in the air.
I guess this was a really long answer and a fancy way to say I don’t know. But it is an EXCELLENT question and one I will try to find out for you. Check back often and good luck with getting rid of those earwigs.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
This ones for Sarah,
I think I have at least a partial answer. 1st let me say I erred by saying ‘cerci’ in my comment, I should have said antenna. It dawned on me that earwigs do emit chemicals that other earwigs can sense with their antennas (and other bugs I suppose) so it stands to reason they can detect things in the air. Kind of like you said they can smell. A large part of an earwigs diet is things like molds or fungi which grow on wet or moist surfaces. Although I’m still not sure if they can ’smell’ moisture outright at least they can hone in on these things that grow on it. If they find some fungus, they find moisture, bada bing.
Great question and I wish I had thought about it more before I replied and I still may not have it 100%. But like the earwig..I’ll keep looking
Thanks
The Bug Doctor
Thanks for the info! I hate those dang things! I can remember as a kid sitting down on the picnic table after a rain and they would bite us on the butt! I hadn’t seen any in a long time but we just moved to a 100 yr old house and they are EVERYWHERE this spring! They found my herb garden and destroyed it and I just found a ton of them in my screen house… and yes when I sat down on my nice leather chair one bit my butt right thru my shorts! I swear those things like the soft tender flesh of my butt! and my feet, got me a few nips there too while I was sweeping them out of the screen house, they would jump off the dust pan and land on my foot! UGH I am going to try your newspaper trick this weekend when I buy the paper! Thanks for the help and for me finally learning the true name of the “that dang thing pinched me” bug
Hi can you tell me how long an earwig can live without food please? thank you
ceilidh,
Great name by the way.
Only about a week or so and even less without water.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
Jaci,
It sounds like you found pestcemetery just in time. Another bite on the behind like that and you might need webmd.com.
I hope the newspaper trick will work for you and also try the wet hose trick as well. I believe it’s in the comments above. (or maybe on another article?)
Thanks for reading
You brightened up my day
The Bug Doctor
thank you
Ok. So these bugs are really creeping me out. We have lived in this house for 4 years now and this is the first year we have had them. My mom waters the grass quite often and I know you said that they are attrackted to moisture. It there and kind of ummm I guess you could call it repellant we could use to get rid of these bugs. I don’t exactly like finding them in my bedroom or on the floor as I’m getting out of the shower.
HELPPPPP!
Sounds to me like you need a crack and crevice treatment. Two options are; Call in a service or head to a big box store and pick up some ‘ready to spray’ insecticide. Follow the tips in the articles (there are several and each one might give you a little more insight) and treat hiding spots and especially doorways, window sills and sliding glass door channels.
Depending where you live the season may be coming to an end soon. This may also be why they are scurrying about looking for a place to escape the coming cold weather. For your bedroom you can also try the wet rolled up newspaper which a lot have done and talked about in the comments above.
If your Mom can cut back watering even for a week that may be enough to re-direct them and solve the problem.(worth asking)
Just because of the time of year I’m pretty sure your experience will be short lived. Remember to check back in the spring however as the earwigs will once again be out in full force.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
I’m so glad that I came across this site. I found one of these bugs today and freaked! It was a lot larger than the one being held in the picture. We scooped it up and put it outside, but I was really scared because I have a nine month old son. Aside from the obvious pinching, are there any other safety hazards I should be concerned about when it comes to my baby?
Hi Brit,
Not a whole lot to be concerned with and I’m glad my article helped out. Like all bugs it’s best to keep them out of the home and with an occasional earwig problem a simple treatment of the doors and windows works fine. Plus if you sprinkle Niban type bait around the home that always works well. If you check the category list I have several articles on the earwig and you can see that ‘rumors’ and legends are a bit over blown.
Thanks for reading
The Bug Doctor
I picked one up today-it stung my finger so bad it is black and numb-what should i do?
In any situation like that, I’d consult with a medical Doctor. However, earwigs do not have poison in their pinchers or bite. Is it possible you picked something else?
Thanks for reading