How to handle an earwig invasion
In Oklahoma, earwigs seem to be everywhere.
Typically, earwigs start in your yard and make their way into your home, reports pest control company Orkin. Oklahomans are seeing the insect infestation because of recent wet weather.
What is an earwig?
Earwigs, also known as pincher bugs, are nocturnal and love moist, damp, dark areas like under flowerpots and leaves or inside a mailbox.
They might let themselves into your home by creeping in through cracks or crevices, or they might come in accidentally by hitching a ride on your newspaper or mail, a planter moved inside, or on a damp box stored in the garage.
How to get rid of earwigs in your house
If you have a severe infestation, call in a professional to help. Once earwigs are in your home, pesticides won’t really help, experts say. You can vacuum or sweep up the insects to remove any bugs spotted indoors.
Prevention is the best medicine.
● Close all cracks and crevices along windows and around your home where they might be able to get in.
● Clean up garden debris outside your home where earwigs might live, such as leaves, bricks or piles of lumber.
● Reduce excess moisture in the landscape by improving drainage or watering plants deeply but less often.
The University of Minnesota suggests trapping earwigs.
● Place old tuna fish cans baited with fish oil or vegetable oil, or rolled-up newspaper.
● Set them out during evening in areas where you have noticed earwigs in your garden.
● In the morning, shake the traps above a pail of soapy water to remove and kill the insects.
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, if you combine equal parts soy sauce and vegetable oil in a plastic container, poke holes in the lid and bury it in the soil, it will lure the earwigs out at night and trap them.
Do earwigs pinch?
Earwigs are more annoying than dangerous, but they do have a small pinch and when they get scared, they will emit a foul smell.
They don’t carry any venom, toxins or diseases that will harm you.
How long do earwigs live?
Individual earwigs don’t live long, reports the University of Minnesota, and they don’t reproduce indoors.