Infestation Of Earwigs - Knowledgebase Question

San Francisco, CA
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Question by kellys_sfo
March 12, 2001
I have earwigs everywhere and I want to plant an herb garden as well as take care of the current flowering plants I have. Are the earwigs a true pest and will they eat my herbs? I have a nest of them in my door jam and would like them eradicated.


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Answer from NGA
March 12, 2001
Earwigs are one of those semi-good guys that sometimes become a nuisance (kind of like moles). Although they occasionally chomp on our flowers, they also have the habit of chomping on aphids and certain pest larvae. Make sure that what is eating your flowers are really earwigs -- go out at night with a flashlight. You can trap earwigs by laying dampened newspapers in the garden. Earwigs will crawl into the folds to hide and in the morning you can gather up the papers, earwigs and all, and destroy them. Or, you can make traps out of tuna or cat food cans, fill with about an inch of water, and float a quarter inch of vegetable oil on top. The earwigs will be attracted to the oil, crawl in and drown. Empty the cans as needed.

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