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How to identify it
- Adults are about 5/8 to 3/4 inch long and reddish brown, with a flat body. UC gives about 3/4 inch and Minnesota about 5/8 inch.[1][2]
- A pair of forceps-like pincers (cerci) at the tail end: strongly curved in males, straighter in females. Minnesota describes the male's pincers as stout and widely separated at the base and the female's as slender and close together; young earwigs have slender, straight pincers.[1][2]
- Most have wings under short, hard wing covers but seldom fly; nymphs look like small, wingless adults. Clemson says most adults have fan-shaped wings folded under leathery covers, and Minnesota says young earwigs are generally lighter in color than adults.[1][2][5]
Look-alikes
| Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Striped earwig | Found in Southern California; attracted to lights, smells disagreeable when crushed, and doesn't damage plants. Clemson, writing about the Southeast, says striped earwigs are common in fields and gardens and feed on pests such as aphids, scales and mites.[1][5] |
| Ringlegged earwig | A southern species that Clemson says usually lives outdoors but can infest moist, poorly stored grain products.[5] |
Where it lives
Hides in dark, cool, moist places such as under clods, boards, pots, mats, mulch and dense vines; irrigated gardens provide the moisture and shade it needs.[1][2]
Biology and life cycle
Females lay masses of 30 or more eggs in soil cells and guard and feed the young until their first molt, unusual care for an insect. Clemson says females lay 30 to 50 eggs per batch and may lay several batches, that they move or defend the eggs if disturbed, and that they keep feeding the young for a couple of days after hatching. Minnesota says eggs hatch in about a week.[1][2][5]
Generally there is one generation a year; pairs overwinter in soil nests. UC says females produce two broods. Sources differ on mating: Minnesota says earwigs mate in fall and spend the winter in pairs until the female forces the male out in early spring, while Clemson says they mate in spring.[1][2][5]
In Minnesota, nymphs leave the nest from late May to early June and become adults in late June or early July. Clemson says the young take two to three months to mature and adults may live up to seven months.[2][5]
Earwigs are omnivores that eat aphids, insect eggs and other small insects as well as plants. Minnesota and Clemson describe them mainly as scavengers of decaying plant matter and weak or dead insects that will also eat healthy plants.[1][2][5]
Earwigs hide by day under mulch, boards, rocks, woodpiles, welcome mats and potted plants and in cracks between pavers. They favor moist conditions and, Clemson says, don't survive well in hot, dry ones.[2][5][1]
Damage and signs
- They chew irregular holes in seedlings, leaves and flowers (such as dahlias, marigolds and zinnias), gouge soft fruit like apricots and berries, and feed on corn silks.[1][2][3]
- Earwig damage can look like slug damage, but earwigs leave no slime trail; check plants at night with a flashlight. UC adds that chewed leaves can also look like caterpillar damage (look for webbing, droppings or pupae), and Minnesota says the damage can be confused with cutworm or even rabbit feeding.[1][2][3]
- Minnesota says larger plants can tolerate the feeding, but large numbers can damage or even kill seedlings and flowering plants. UC says damage is unlikely to be a concern in yards planted to lawn and mature ornamentals.[2][1]
Health risk
Despite the myth, earwigs don't attack people. UC says they can bite if trapped in clothing or sat on, Minnesota says they can grab with their pincers but can't squeeze very hard, and Clemson says they may give a little nip if you pick one up. Indoors they are a nuisance, not a health hazard, though Minnesota notes they can release a foul-smelling liquid.[1][2][5]
Control
Keep them out
Indoors, sweep or vacuum them up and seal entry points; earwigs that come inside eventually die. Caulk or weather-strip around doors and windows. Clemson notes that earwigs indoors often come in on plants brought from outside or gather where there are moisture problems, such as under wet carpet.[1][2][5][3]
Sanitation
Remove hiding places such as ivy, weeds, debris piles and leaves near gardens, and watch mulch, which often harbors earwigs. Clemson's advice is to keep things drier: less mulch, less watering near the house, and woodpiles, stepping stones and wet mats moved away from the foundation.[1][5][3]
Traps and physical control
Trap them: sink a tuna or cat food can with 1/2 inch of oil (fish oil, or vegetable oil with a drop of bacon grease) to soil level, or lay rolled newspaper, corrugated cardboard or short hoses near plants at dusk and empty them into soapy water in the morning. Repeat daily. In orchard trials, a 2025 study found traps of rolled corrugated cardboard caught more earwigs than black or clear plastic traps.[1][7]
Biological control
Earwigs can be helpers. UC says they can give significant aphid control in some situations, and in a four-year study in organic apple orchards in Spain, releasing 30 earwigs per tree in cardboard shelters shortened woolly apple aphid colonies from the second year on.[1][6]
Pesticides
Insecticides shouldn't be necessary if trapping and habitat changes are followed; baits often aren't very effective where other food is available. Where an insecticide is wanted, UC rates spinosad baits or sprays as the most effective, environmentally sound choice, but says baits are unlikely to help once earwigs are in plants or ripening fruit. Clemson says outdoor granules or sprays must reach down into mulch or leaf litter, and that insecticides give only temporary control.[1][3][5]
That bug with pincers is probably an earwig
Earwigs are easy to recognize by the forceps-like pincers at the tail end, curved in males and straighter in females.[3][2]
Adults are about 3/4 inch long and reddish brown; most have wings under short, hard wing covers but seldom fly, and young earwigs look like small, wingless adults.[3]
The most common species in California gardens is the European earwig, accidentally brought from Europe in the early 1900s. Clemson says 28 earwig species occur in the United States and that the European earwig is the most common one around homes in South Carolina too.[3][5]
Why earwigs come indoors, and how to stop them
Earwigs may come indoors when it's too dry, too hot or too cold outside; large numbers are annoying but not a health hazard. Minnesota says they come in mostly in July and August and don't reproduce indoors.[3][2]
Limit mulch and leaves next to the house, and swap white outdoor lights for yellow ones, which attract them less.[3][5]
Indoor pesticides won't keep earwigs from coming in, so UC IPM doesn't recommend them.[3]
Trapping earwigs in the garden
Earwigs matter in vegetable and flower beds, sweet corn and soft fruit, but rarely in lawns, trees, native plants and woody ornamentals.[3]
At dusk, set rolled newspaper, bamboo tubes or short pieces of hose on the soil near plants, then shake the earwigs into soapy water in the morning; daily trapping brings numbers down. Minnesota warns that when numbers are high, earwigs may still be a problem after these steps.[3][2]
Band fruit tree trunks with a sticky barrier and pick fruit as soon as it ripens.[3]
Common questions
- Do earwigs crawl into ears?
- No. Clemson calls the idea that earwigs burrow into ears a false superstition and says they cannot burrow into people, and UC and Minnesota say they generally don't attack people.[5][1][2]
- Are earwigs beneficial?
- Sometimes. They eat aphids and insect eggs and can help control them, so they don't always need managing. Clemson notes that the striped earwig is considered beneficial.[1][5][6]
- What is the bug with pincers on its tail?
- Usually an earwig; the pincers are curved in males and straighter in females.[3][2]
- Do earwigs pinch people?
- They can if trapped in clothing or sat on, but they generally don't attack people. Minnesota says they can't squeeze very hard.[3][2][5]
- Why are earwigs in my house?
- They move indoors when it's too dry, hot or cold outside; cut back mulch near the house and switch to yellow outdoor lights. Minnesota says most come in during July and August.[3][2][5]
- How long do earwigs live?
- Clemson says adults may live up to seven months, and Minnesota says an earwig that wanders indoors doesn't live long.[5][2]
Sources
- University of California Statewide IPM Program, “Pest Notes: Earwigs, Publication 74102 (October 2012).” ipm.ucanr.edu/legacy_assets/PDF/PESTNOTES/pnearwigs.pdf (accessed 2026-11-11)
- University of Minnesota Extension, “Earwigs.” extension.umn.edu/garden-and-home/yard-and-garden/yard-and-garden-insects/earwigs (accessed 2026-11-11)
- University of California Statewide IPM Program, “Earwigs (Pest Notes, Home and Landscape).” ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/earwigs/ (accessed 2026-11-11)
- iNaturalist, “Forficula auricularia taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/61524 (accessed 2026-11-11)
- Clemson Cooperative Extension Home and Garden Information Center, “Earwigs (HGIC 2421).” hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/earwigs/ (accessed 2026-11-11)
- Insects, via PubMed, “Alins et al. (2023), Earwig releases provide accumulative biological control of the woolly apple aphid over the years, Insects 14(11):890.” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37999089/ (accessed 2026-11-11)
- Journal of Economic Entomology, via PubMed, “Hanel et al. (2025), Evaluating trapping methods to increase earwig capture in temperate tree fruit crops, J Econ Entomol.” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39918400/ (accessed 2026-11-11)