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Earwig Identification and Control: Myths vs. Reality

Earwigs (order Dermaptera) have pincers (cerci)—curved in males, straighter in females. They don’t crawl into ears or burrow in brains. They eat decaying matter and occasionally plants.

Management

Outdoors: rarely need control; trap in oatmeal boxes if numerous.
Indoors: treat mulch near doors with insecticide; fix moisture issues.
Pinchers are harmless to humans.

They’re mostly beneficial decomposers.

Earwig

Male earwig with curved cerci.

About Gardening: Identifying a Mystery Pear Variety from Fruit and Seed; How to Get a Wildflower Identified from a Photograph; Perlite pH Concerns: Test Your Source Before Limiting Use; Millet in the Yard: Birdseed Volunteer; Black-Eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia alata): Annual Beauty for Containers; Evergreen Wisteria: A Vine That Shouldn't Survive Here But Does; Earwig Identification and Control: Myths vs. Reality; Spigelia (Indian Pink): Native Woodland Wildflower; Selaginella: The Charming Club Moss for Shady Groundcover; Identifying Volunteer Sorghum: Birdseed Escapee

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