Earwigs are small (3/4 inch long), brown beetle-type insects with short leather like forewings and membranous hind wings that fold up under the forewings when not being used. This insect can be readily identified by the pair of pinchers at the end of its abdomen. The small round eggs are laid in the soil and there will generally be two generations per year in our area. They overwinter in the egg stage.

The earwig is usually considered a beneficial insect, acting as a scavenger of dead or decaying material, and as a predator of other garden pests such as various insect larvae, aphids, snails, webworms, and other slow-moving pests. They are nocturnal (night) feeders and spend the day under garden litter, stones, or bark. They will produce a very strong odor if crushed.

Sometimes earwigs can become pests themselves, feeding on flowers, foliage, or seedlings. Plants usually affected include beets, beans, dahlias, butterfly bush, celery, corn, hollyhock, lettuce, potatoes, strawberries, and zinnias. They have also been known to feed on ripening fruit. One of the easiest ways to tell if earwigs are your problem is to inspect your garden at night with a flashlight. At other times they may become pests when they invite themselves into your home. Here they might be feeding on stored grain products, or they may have simply found a way in and not a way back out. According to experts, humans have nothing to fear from that pair of fierce looking pinchers on their tail end, but most folks would prefer not to find one of these creatures in their bathtub early one morning.

The most effective means of getting rid of earwigs is to trap them. During the day they seek dark, close quarters to hide in. Simply take short lengths of old garden hose, bamboo, rolled up newspapers or cardboard and lay them in your garden. Rolled or folded pieces of black plastic reportedly work well, too. Check these traps early in the day, and pour any inhabitants into buckets of water containing a bit of oil or kerosene. They can be attracted by wild lettuce, and fish oil is often used as bait in commercial traps. Domestic fowl (ducks, chickens, etc.) consider the earwig a tasty snack as do groundhogs. Earwigs are also parasitized by a Tachinid fly.