How To Get Rid Of Earwigs In Your Home

Need to get rid of earwigs? Read on to learn the answers to all of your important questions. Need help? Call our professionals today to get started.

What Are Earwigs?

There are about 2,000 species of earwig worldwide, and are considered a part of the smaller insect orders. Fossils featuring earwigs have been found dating back to the Late Triassic and Middle Jurassic periods, meaning they once roamed the earth with the dinosaurs. 

What Do Earwigs Look Like?

Earwigs are skinny insects with two pairs of wings. They have pincers, or forceps, that jut out from their abdomen. Earwigs range in size from 5 to 25 millimeters depending on the species. They are dark reddish-brown, with light brown legs. 

Their most characteristic feature is their cerci—a pair of forceps-like pincers attached to their abdomen.

Earwig Behavior

Earwigs are primarily nocturnal and can be found hiding in small, damp crevices in the daytime. Earwigs feed on a wide variety of insects and plants. 

Earwig mothers from many different species of earwig have been seen demonstrating maternal care, a trait unusual for insects. Female earwigs not only care for their eggs, they continue this care until the second of five molts before full maturation occurs. 

How To Get Rid Of Earwigs In Your Home

The best form of earwig control is prevention. Make sure that your home has no high-moisture areas including bathrooms, kitchens, leaky pipes, damp foundations, or large piles of wet mulch near your home. Eliminate any wet conditions around crawl spaces, faucets and basements. Use weather stripping at each possible entry point of your home like doors and windows, and don’t forget other entry points like pipes, vents and any other opening that may need filling with caulk. 

Your landscaping should enforce a dry border around your home to eliminate pooling of water near the foundation. The use of gravel or ornamental stones can help to create an obstacle for earwigs and other pests in getting into your home.  

If you have found an earwig habitat in or near your home, the most effective treatment to use is the one recommended to you by a pest control specialist. Call today for help with your earwig or any other pest problem you may have. 

Find A Pest Specialist For Earwig Control

If you are concerned about earwig control for your home, please give us a call or fill out the form on this page. PestControlExperts.com is a team of experts who are highly qualified to provide the best recommendations for you and your home, no matter which part of the United States you live in.