Earwig facts and information

Earwig habitats typically involve moist, dark environments where they can find shelter and food. Outdoors, you'll find them hiding under mulch, stones, boards, and garden debris, particularly in flower beds and around foundation plantings. 

During hot, dry periods, earwigs may migrate indoors seeking cooler, damper conditions. Inside homes, they hide in cracks and crevices in basements, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and kitchens: anywhere they can find moisture and darkness. If you're experiencing earwig activity around your property, professional pest control services can help identify entry points and eliminate harborage areas.

The earwig life cycle typically spans about one year. European earwigs overwinter as adults in protected locations underground or beneath debris. In spring, female earwigs lay 20 to 60 eggs in burrows they excavate in the soil. 

Unlike many insects, female earwigs exhibit maternal care, guarding their eggs and newly hatched nymphs. The eggs hatch in about seven days, and the nymphs go through four to five molts over two to three months before reaching adulthood. Adult earwigs typically live for several months after reaching maturity.

Earwigs are omnivorous scavengers with a varied diet. They primarily feed on decaying plant material, fungi, algae, and other organic matter, making them beneficial decomposers in garden ecosystems. 

However, earwigs also eat living plant material, particularly tender shoots, flowers, and seedlings, which can damage vegetables and ornamental plants when populations are high. The earwig diet also includes small insects and their eggs. They prey on aphids, mites, and insect larvae, providing natural pest control in gardens.

Earwigs are nocturnal insects, meaning they're most active at night when they emerge to feed and search for mates. During the day, they hide in dark, protected areas to avoid predators and conserve moisture. Earwigs use their distinctive pincers primarily for defense and during mating rituals, not for attacking humans. 

While they can pinch if handled or threatened, these pinches rarely break the skin and are more startling than painful. When disturbed, earwigs prefer to flee rather than fight, quickly scurrying into cracks and crevices for protection.

While earwigs don't bite, sting, or transmit diseases to humans, they can still create problems for homeowners. The primary concern is the nuisance they create when they invade homes in large numbers. 

Finding dozens of earwigs in your bathroom or kitchen can be unsettling. In gardens, high earwig populations can damage tender plants, flowers, and vegetables by feeding on leaves and shoots. They may also contaminate stored foods if they gain access to pantry areas.

Earwigs use their pincers, called cerci, primarily for defense against predators and to capture prey. Males also use their curved pincers during mating rituals and territorial disputes with other males.

Whilst it’s possible, it's very unlikely and more of a myth. Earwigs do not intentionally crawl into human ears, and there is no scientific evidence to support this common misconception. The name likely comes from old folklore rather than actual behavior.

Yes, some earwig species can fly, though they rarely do. Most earwigs prefer to run and hide rather than take flight, even when they have fully developed wings tucked beneath their short forewings.