To get rid of earwigs, you need to understand these insects. If you have never heard of an earwig before you may think they are little wigs that go over the ears to keep the ears warm, but that is so far from the truth. Earwigs are actually little insects you can find throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Superstition has it that these long skinny insects crawl into the ears of humans while they are sleeping and that is how the insect got their name, but both those facts are myths.
Their scientific name is actually skin wings because they have a pair of pincers on their abdomens and membranous wings with short forewings folded under the first set of wings.
Many people find these insects to be pests because these nocturnal bugs do damage to vegetable, fruit, and flower gardens as well as foliage on bushes and fruit trees and beautiful green vines that take years to grow.
If able, these insects love making their way into homes and hanging out in kitchen cabinets, the pantry, and in grains such as cereals, flours, oats, and rice. Farmers hate these insects because they can destroy crops.
Thankfully, there are methods that are helpful when it comes to preventing insects or getting rid of them.
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What are some useful methods for preventing and getting rid of earwigs?
When earwigs are not hiding away underneath rocks or logs or burrowed away in the dirt within the ground, these insects are creepy crawling into homes, onto farms, and into gardens to snack away on all kinds of plants, or to lay their eggs wherever they feel is the safest and best spot to do so.
Some of the methods for preventing and ridding the earwigs away are:
- Keeping outdoor lights off at nighttime when they are not being used at all because these insects are attracted to warm lights.
- Destroy earwig nests and eggs using sea salt, bleach, or pesticides before they create an infestation inside your home.
- Eliminate places the insects can hide to help keep them out of gardens and large crop fields.
- Remove old dead logs, brush, and piles of leaves from the yard to help prevent them from being attracted to your yard.
- Spray insecticide around the foundation of your home or areas you desire to keep the insects away from.
- Plant mint plants around your yard, garden or fields keeping pantry items sealed up in containers or zip lock bags.
- Repair ripped screens.
- Fill in cracks and holes with cocking within the foundation of your home, barn, sheds, or any other structural place you wish to keep them away from.
- If you have a centipede infestation get rid of it fast since centipedes tend to attract earwigs.
- Eliminate high moisture areas on your property and inside your home.
- Sprinkle caulk dust around entrance ways and along gardens and crop fields to naturally repel these bugs
How to get rid of earwigs in your house
To exterminate earwigs in your home, you first need to figure out how they’re entering your home. As with most bugs, they often get in through tiny openings and cracks.
Check for anything you have that might be attracting them. Seal any entry points and remove anything that attracts earwigs.
Once you address earwig entry points and attractants, you should set out earwig traps. It may take a while depending on how many earwigs you have in your home, but eventually, you should have a handle on your earwig infestation.
How to get rid of earwigs in the garden?
Chickens for Earwig Control Outside
There are many methods you can use to prevent and rid of earwigs than the ones just discussed.
If you have tried some of the methods above and none of them works, you can always do more research to come across some other tried methods that have worked for other people such as getting chickens.
Chickens love eating insects and do wonders for keeping the insect population down within yards and on a farm.
Other people have tried spraying pesticides around their homes in early spring and summer to help repel the earwigs away to prevent them from even entering their property and raising hell.
However, you have to find the method you prefer and which works best for your home, yard, garden, or crops.