Are Earwigs Dangerous?

October 29th, 2008 Posted in Ornamental & Lawn Pests




“Pincher bugs,” or earwigs, look scary and ferocious. Their name makes you think they live in ears and will pinch everything around them. Also, they love to hide in your shoes, luggage, and even dresser drawers. But do these bugs really deserve all this negative attention? Are they out to get humans like everyone may think?




In this article, we will discuss the life of an earwig and take a look at their habits and activities. Some questions we will explore are:



What is an Earwig & What Does It Look Like?

Earwigs receive their name from an old European superstition. It was told that these little creatures crawled in people’s ears while they slept and dug into the brain. None of this has ever been proven, so no need to worry about your brain at night.

Description:

  • Long, flat-looking.

  • Have three pairs of legs.

  • Light red or brown, sometimes black, in coloring.

  • Head is often dark red in color.

  • Legs are the same color as the body, but banded or striped-looking.

Some earwigs have wings, others are wingless. Ones lucky enough to have wings have two pairs located on their back. One pair is tough, the other is softer and more bendable.

The most commonly seen earwig has a body size ranging from ½ in to ¾ in long. With this small body length and flat body, the earwig can hide in small, dark places.

Types:

There are about 20 types of earwigs in the United States, and over 1,000 different species throughout the world.

The 2 popular types of earwigs that we may see in our backyard or possibly house are the:

  • European Earwig

  • Ringlegged Earwig

Habitat:

These pests were not discovered in the United States until the 1900’s. It has been said that with increased human activity, the earwig population increases, too. Earwigs make great hitch hikers and have been spread through out the country by our ways of life. They hide in lumber yards, landscaping trucks, newspaper bundles, crated shipments, and produce. This has made the increase of different types able to be shared with everyone.




Are Earwigs Dangerous?

Earwigs are easier to recognize than other insect pests because of the forceps located on the end of their body. This attribute is what makes them look threatening to people.

  • Male earwigs have larger forceps that are slightly curved.

  • Female earwigs have forceps that are straight on the sides.

Contrary to popular belief, earwigs, or “pincher bugs,” do not pinch everything in sight. Their forceps are used mostly for:

  • Protecting the nest

  • Capturing prey, such as house spiders

  • Opening narrow spaces to crawl into

If for some reason you find yourself holding an earwig, it could pinch you if handled incorrectly. Their pinch is very mild, and causes no harm large enough for treatment.


Earwig Life Cycle

Earwigs develop through a four- to five-stage metamorphosis. Depending on the temperature, this process will take 45-175 days to complete. They begin from an egg and transform into the adult you mostly likely see traveling throughout your house.

  1. Reproduction for the earwig begins in spring or autumn.

    If spring or summer was rainy, there will be an increased population of earwigs. This is due to their love for water and moist places.

  2. The female will lay 20, possibly up to 50, cream-colored eggs.

    She lays these eggs in a space underground to protect them. Usually, the eggs are covered by two to three inches of soil in an area called a “chamber.”

    The female earwig makes a great mother and will clean and provide care for her young until their first molt. As soon as the young become old enough to leave the nest they will begin to fend for themselves.

  3. When winter comes, you may find these little pests “six feet under.”

    No, not dead. Earwigs are tough and will dig that deep to escape cold temperatures. In some areas with a warmer climate earwigs will remain active year-round.


Earwig Habits

  • Earwigs are nocturnal and hide during the day. They prefer to hide in dark, moist places.

  • At night, they are active and attracted to lights. They are fast little runners and great at burrowing below rocks, boards, and in sidewalks crevices.

  • Even though some earwigs do have wings, they rarely fly.

  • These little pests cannot crawl for long distances, so don’t bet on them in a long race.

  • Earwigs do like water and moist areas; though they aren’t excellent swimmers, they are good enough to enjoy themselves around your home.



Earwigs Outside

Mostly, earwigs are found outside the home. They only breed outside, so there is no need to look for a nest indoors. The most common places for them to hide outside are:

  • Around base boards and foundations

  • By pools

  • In gardens and flower pots

  • Under stones

  • In mulch and compost heaps

Earwigs sometimes find their way into the house. This usually occurs during times of lengthened heat or during drought-like weather.

They get in through cracks around doors and windows or by latching onto clothing that was left outside or plants that were brought in.

Outside the home, earwigs feed on:

  • Algae

  • Fungi

  • Insects

  • Plants

Earwigs will eat anything, dead or alive. They are often problems in greenhouses with certain crops like vegetables, fruits, and field plants. In gardens and pots around the house, they cause a problem by eating flowers. Try EcoSMART for an organic solution to these pesky little pests.

Earwigs & Water Outside

Pools:

If you have a pool, be extra careful for earwigs. The grass around the pool could be an earwig’s favorite place. Also, check towels that have been out by the pool. Earwigs like to hide on cloth, so wet cloth would be perfect for them.

Wells:

In some parts of the country, earwigs have become a problem in water wells. They can hide in well parts and in or around the water supply.

The water may become contaminated. This is not because of the earwig itself, but because of the bacteria it brings along.

  • Earwigs survive in wells better than other insects, which may cause more of them to come along and swim, too.

  • If a well is located by a forest or mulch, there is a greater risk for earwig contamination because these are often homes for earwigs.


Earwigs Inside

If you have earwigs inside your home, they are most likely hiding in the basement or another moist and shady place. Since they are not good at traveling long distances, they like to hitchhike.

They can be found in:

  • Basements

  • Under sinks

  • Crawl spaces

  • Under appliances

  • Laundry baskets

  • Luggage

  • Closets

  • Food baskets

Inside the home, earwigs feed on:

  • Insects, such as spiders and mites

  • Houseplants

  • Sweet or oily foods

Even though they are unwelcome pests inside the home, they are more helpful inside than dangerous. This is because of their scavenger ways of eating other insects, dead or alive.


Not So Bad After All…

Even though earwigs have a scary name and quite a scary appearance, it doesn’t mean they are out to get you. They do not attack humans and prefer to be left alone.

If they are found in your home, it is probably just as much as a surprise to them. They cannot breed indoors, so when one is found inside it is probably wanting to get out of there as much as you want it out, too. And if you find one in your room, rest assured that it will not find its way into your brain that night. But if you do want to get rid of them, consider organic insecticides.

Try EcoSMART’s organic products to end your earwig problem!


Alicia McNally

  1. 74 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers!

  2. By aycha on Nov 11, 2008

    hi,this was very usefull info as i did not know that they feed on spiders,although there was an incident where the earwig did actually go into a womans ear and she was in scraming agony for days..there is heaps around my home and i hate them..thank u

  3. By Denson Palada on Dec 8, 2008

    What a nice study about earwigs..

    Can earwigs be used in Biological control?

  4. By Crystal on Dec 14, 2008

    Thank God, I thought they were invading my home and gonna run me out.
    They look disgusting glad they arent poison

  5. By Paula Chihill on Dec 16, 2008

    Thanks for this info. We’ve had earwigs in our house and yard for years and I didn’t know anything about them or what to use.

  6. By Wanda Lutz on Dec 17, 2008

    I live way out in the country and i feel as if these nasty little bugs come and go as they please i have tried every spray, candle and well you name it we have tried to get rid of them and even powderes. i can’t get reid of them at all. I do not know hoe er foy yhrm in yht gitdy pslvr riyjt..zi hsbr gounf 1 recomendation for those ground hogs that eat up all your newly planted flower bulbs tho. i have 2 cats and i read that when the cats urinate you scoop it up amd place it in a plastic gac and goa fe feet behind the grass mower and keep pulling back the area that the growd hog is at and placing a wad of the cat urine only and i don’t nknow it it kills them of it chases them away but they hate the smell so bad that it chases them away for mos.!! Good luck and thanks for all the wonderful advise.
    wanda lutz

  7. By Wanda Lutz on Dec 17, 2008

    THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THE INFORMATION. IT HAS BEE A PLEASURE SPEAKING ABOUT SUCH A TOPIC SUCH AS THIS. WE HAVE A POOL, AND A WELL AND ALWAYS HAVEING HANING WET TOWELS IN THE LINE GETTING DRY… AND KDS THAT GOES ALONG WITH THAT STUFF!

  8. By melissa on Dec 19, 2008

    i never had one of these…then i brought one back in a suitcase and they suddenly over run my house for the next ten years. how do you get rid of them for good?

  9. By jessica on Jan 1, 2009

    does it hurt when they pinch. and what kind of affexct does it have (ex. do u get a bump)

  10. By Lou on Jan 17, 2009

    I discovered what I think were two earwigs in the folds of a cotton curtain. There were holes in the curtain where they were. The curtain on the other side was untouched. Could the earwigs have done the damage?

  11. By Karen on Jan 19, 2009

    These are the bane of my exsistence. I have both a pond and a stonr patio and it seems they love to hide everywhere I want to be.
    An eco friendly way to be rid of them would be a dream come true.

  12. By ape4net on Mar 10, 2009

    for years i’ve been told these are arttracted to the smell of ear wax they can only move forward and will eat your brain and lay eggs in your brain. they even made a twilight zone out of this myth. ha ha….
    this little guy would probadly hate the heat in our body …let alone they wouldnt like us tugging at our ears . doctors have ddt and stuff to inject to kill bugs.
    i saw a woman that was in agony on tv…she had a roach go in her ear and it was bitting her. folks, i’d be more afraid of the roaches!!!!

  13. By Bryan Davis on Apr 26, 2009

    Have you ever heard of earwigs infesting a human body?

  14. By melba "jean" durham on May 6, 2009

    would like you to know;
    AT THIS TIME!
    I have ear wiglets and seed ticks in my hair! Put in my house by magement of my town house Assn. the mgr & family and workmans that work for her!The item would be too long to print here, what has happened
    but in this almost three years, it would almost take a book to tell you every thing, butI STILL HAVE SEED TICKS AND EAR WIGLETS IN MY HAIR AND ON MY BODY, JUST FOUND SOME THING THAT IS HELPING AND AM BETTER! I HAVE KEPT SOME SAMPLES, I COULD NOT BELEIVE IT WHEN THE BUG I DUG OUT OF MY SCALP IS AN EAR WIGLET! I THOUGHT I ONLY HAD SEED TICKS. IT TOO ME THREE DAYS OF DIGGING AND SCRAPING
    (VERY PAINFUL) TO GET IT OUT, USUALLY WHEN I GET THEM OFF THEY ARE TOO SMALL TO TELL WHAT THEY ARE. SINCH THEN I HAVE KEPT SOME SAMPLES IN SAREN WRAP.
    BELEIVE ME THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST “I CAN NOT THINK OF A WORD BAD ENOUGT TO TELL YOU WHAT I AM STILL GOING THRU AT THIS TIME, BUT A LOT BETTER
    BELEIVE ME THEY DO GET IN AND ON YOUR BODY!!!!!!!!
    MINIMAX@NETSCAPE.COM

  15. By lyric elder on Jun 21, 2009

    well ive founf 5 earwigs in my bedromm on my bed.and i was just want to noe if thay can go in your ear um becouse i have them in my house and BAD in my room and i have a bump at the bottom of the era but i have water in it becouse i have beem swimming alot with out era plugs so is it the bugs or water down thera

  16. By Mandy on Jun 25, 2009

    What can I do or get to get rid of these nasty little bugs. I have tried everything from sprays to putting lime out in the yard,they also gets in the house as well. Can you please give me some answers I’m at my wits end here.

  17. By Tina Havaich on Jun 27, 2009

    Thank you very much for the info. We have an outside bunny and our daughter was freaking out because she thought the earwigs were actually going to crawl into his ears. We are going to go and purchase some of the EcoSmart products today. Is this EcoSmart okay to put in the bunny hutch?

  18. By Scott Christian Bauer on Jul 2, 2009

    I just killed an earwig in my bathroom as it was climbing the vanity. I did a quick Google search for “are earwigs dangerous” and your site was at the top of the results.

    Thank you very, very much for all the good information. With the national bedbug epidemic all over the news and all the problems those little devils cause, I was afraid earwigs would pose the same threat. I was not thrilled at the prospect, to say the least.

    Your article soothed my ever so slightly tattered nerves and restored me to “center.”

    THANK YOU!

  19. By pat hellekson on Jul 3, 2009

    Our area had what is called the 30 year flood, everyone’s basement was seeping water and flooding and ours was no exception. This of course brought twice as many earwigs inside. I have gone through glue trap after glue trap, my husband has sprayed time and time again. We have sprayed outside too and used crystals. Nothing is getting rid of them, but I have noticed less spiders. Thanks for that bit of information. (I always thought the spiders ate the earwigs.) I have had a few come upstairs and that is not pleasing. I have glue traps in our bedroom under the bed. Am I paranoid or what. NO – I am just being cautious. I tied to dry out our basement, but I think they are on the other side of the basement wall, between the outside and inside. Somehow they are getting inside. I have tried to fill in every crack and hole in the basement, but they still get in. Maybe underneath our outside siding? Glue traps, many of them, seem to be the best defense. They are not my favorite insect, but better than spiders as they are not as dangerous. They can pinch if aggravated, by the way. Will have to wait until winter, then they seem to be less active.

  20. By Wanda on Jul 6, 2009

    I just picked up an earwig and it not only pinched me but drew a tiny drop of blood, it hurt too. I just started seeing them. The next door neighbor has a small pool but I also just had five old trees trimmed by my house so maybe they were in the trees. I mix a teaspoon of dish soap in two cups of water and spray them and they die within a minute.

  21. By janna on Jul 9, 2009

    Thanks so much for the info. I’ve been wanting to know more about these creatures. I’ve been afraid of these bugs since childhood.

  22. By Deborah Harris on Jul 9, 2009

    Our back yard gets very wey due to a big hill that water runs off. So we get a lot of earwigs around the outside of our house. This year I found a couple inside,in the basement, which makes be think there is probably more.
    We never use pesticides and the like. We rescue ferrets and they are always sniffing around. That sort of thing would kill them. If this product is safe around animals I would sure like to try it.

  23. By Becky Burnash on Jul 9, 2009

    Well well well….. I am so glad that at least they are doing something while they are in here. I will leav them alone now that I know they are eating spiders. I don’t like spiders even more than I don’t like earwigs. Thanks for the info!

  24. By Hailey on Jul 9, 2009

    Hi, Thanks so much this was very helpful. I currently have an earwig problem in my house but i have seen less spiders and such insects. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to get rid of them that is safe as I have a dog at home and don’t want him getting sick from whatever I do to get rid of them.

  25. By Amanda on Jul 9, 2009

    Thank you wanda! i’ve been looking for an earwig spray that won’t harm my veggies! i’m going to try that out tonite!

  26. By Angela Morgan on Jul 9, 2009

    Even though they are not dangerous, they are ugly and scary. I just want to get rid of them.

  27. By Denise on Jul 9, 2009

    I have read and tried So many different products to get rid of these things. Not only are they horrible to look at but it is the only bug that scares me!
    Where we live they seem to multiply faster then dandilions. Any ideas on what will work to get rid of them….? I am desperate!!
    Thanks!!!

  28. By Heidi on Jul 10, 2009

    These little rascals get terrible at our house during the summer!!

  29. By vickie on Jul 11, 2009

    I had an earwig in my house tonight and freaked out I thought it was going to get inside my ear and kill me but you say it cant I sure hope not I put up a pool out back and they are all around it and I also have wood chips around my house I hope there isnt many of them hiding out they kinda scare me

  30. By Phung Nguyen on Jul 12, 2009

    I saw several of these earwigs inside my apartment. At first I thought they were mutated cockroaches… however after reading this article I feel rest assured.

    This article is very helpful! The best search result that I have read about earwigs. Lets of relevant information.

  31. By Shirley Prather on Jul 12, 2009

    I woke up during the night and found one on my shoulder. Hope it wasn’t on it’s way to my ear. It freaked me out!!

  32. By RJ on Jul 12, 2009

    I have a severe earwig problem. more so this year than any other. We have had a pretty serious weeks rain. I never tied the two events together until I read your article. thank you

  33. By Karen on Jul 12, 2009

    I hate earwigs! I have been looking online for weeks to find ways to get rid of them. The low-sided can with vegetable oil has been working. They go into the can and die. I have 4 cans outside in the places where I usually find earwigs.

  34. By Sarah on Jul 13, 2009

    I can’t get rid of these creepy crawlers, HELP any idea’s other then Raid!

  35. By Kristy on Jul 14, 2009

    Our house seems to be the exception to the “cannot breed indoors” rule. Every night it’s like the scene in Indiana Jones with bugs all over the place – no kidding, we kill around 30 earwigs inside alone at night.
    I’m so, so, so happy to find this site as I’ve been trying to find a non-toxic way to not only get them out of my house, but save all my flowers and vegetables outside. Thank you for giving me hope that I won’t have to resort to pesticides.

  36. By Brandon on Jul 14, 2009

    i have a terrinle earwig problem around my yard and i’ve tried lots of things just seeing if this will work?

  37. By Stefanie Schmidt on Jul 15, 2009

    Wow, these insects look scary. I would love to try these ecofriendly products.

  38. By Susan West on Jul 16, 2009

    I have seen these outside and did not know what they were so I am glad to know now more about them and what to do with them,lol.

  39. By tanner fernando on Jul 16, 2009

    thank you i 1 in my grill cover and in my grill side burner and my brother got pinched 1 and he cried like hell

  40. By Heather on Jul 18, 2009

    I have found these ugly insects in my house and my daughter (2)) is afraid of them. Will spraying them with teh eco Smart get rid of them? I sure hope so. Look forward to trying this product

  41. By Lora Stohel on Jul 20, 2009

    I never had a problem with earwigs before this summer. But now they are everywhere.I like bugs as much as the next person, but outside, not in my house. Help

  42. By Sylvia Ontiveros on Jul 20, 2009

    I work at a apartment complex and we had a resident come in saying she had earwing in her bed. She wanted to know if they could possible be doing something to her cause she just got out of the hospital and the dr.s couldn’t find anything wrong. So I looked up the info on the internet and saw your website and now I know all is good. Thanks

  43. By BrieLynn Wallace on Jul 21, 2009

    I was in Canada for a wedding last week, we were all out side at someones house having a great time. I told myself that somehow a bug or something would surely get caught in my crazy hair. And sure enough, In the middle of the night that little sucker crawled up my shoulder so quick i was trying to get it off me when it ran into my ear!!!!!! It freaked me out. I was in the bathroom of our guest house trying to get it out for about five minutes. Finally it came crawling back.. Them dang canadian’s told me they lay eggs in peoples ears… Those jerks. We don’t have anything like that here in Kansas.

  44. By monica turkow on Jul 22, 2009

    great article! i just squashed about 11 out side this morning but was leary of any thing that might hurt my dog. cant wait to try it!

  45. By Marc on Jul 22, 2009

    Found a few of these little buggers(no pun intended) in the house. Funnier still the cat was watching it scurry across the floor & was ready to pounce on it until I hit it(the bug) with a shoe & flushed it. Just hope that there is some easy way to keep them outside rather than inside.

  46. By bob on Jul 22, 2009

    wish they were bigger, id shoot em.. i hate these things, had one taking a shower with me today, one working in the basement with me yesterday, mailbox is full of em..? so if i douce the mailbox in gasoline and set it off.. should get rid of those ones.. i got some bayer pesticide at walmart that may work also, and can keep my mailbox. thanks for the info.. good write up!

  47. By Stefanie Schmidt on Jul 23, 2009

    What great information. I would love to try your ecofriendly products.

  48. By Teresa Dickey on Jul 27, 2009

    We have been overrun with earwigs for the last 3 years. Indoors and out. My pumpkin and zucchini plants can’t form fruit because they get inside the blossoms and lay eggs. The blossom then drops off like it has been snipped.

    I have opened the blossoms as they were hanging (destroyed) on my plants and the earwigs dropped out. Very, very frustrating.

  49. By Zachary Mason on Aug 5, 2009

    I have been finding earwigs in my laundry room for years. I would love to get rid of these things and stay rid of them. Hopefully I can find something on this site to aid me in this venture.

    Thanks for the information!

  50. By JoDee W. on Aug 14, 2009

    For some reason my daughter is aparently very tasty to those darn earwigs. We have only found two of them, but they are eating her up.
    In one night she had seven bites. The bite marks are so painful to her, they are between 1-3 inches in diameter, hard as a rock and burning hot. I feel so bad for her. I have been cleaning her wounds and putting anticeptic cream on them, but I don’t know a safe and non-chemical way to get rid of them in the house. I would love to try this product!!!!

  51. By Marie Kirtley on Aug 18, 2009

    Every summer these little creatures appear in my house and disrupt my life all summer long!!! These little guys (and girls) creep me out. I do not see them up high mainly on the floor. I flush them when i see them because i have two very small dogs and i am scared to use bug sprays. I need HELP!!!!

  52. By Stephanie on Aug 30, 2009

    I have lots of earwigs but I really enjoyed learning more about them through your article. It put my daughter at ease as well. I had a sofa outside and it was infested with them. Even though I have a professional pest control company, the earwigs still seem to have the upper hand and the pets probably transport them indoors. I would be very interested in your product since I have several cats and a dog in the yard and really don’t like the strong pesticides.

  53. By Betty Grewelle on Sep 7, 2009

    Earwigs do bite!!! I had frozen corn and when I went to clean it, an earwig bit me, even when it had been in the freezer for months. We have them in our corn every year. I picked up some corn husks today and go bit. It is VERY painful.

  54. By Rick Cole on Sep 29, 2009

    My 37-YO step-daughter swears that earwigs WILL crawl into your ears & lay eggs.

    I have shown her several webpages, including yours, that say it doesn’t happen, but she still swears that it does. She even cites “some doctors” she knows, who say it happens, but won’t tell me who they are so I can call & verify her story.

    This same girl believes that you can get swine flu from eating pork (like bacon, ham or pork chops).

    WRONG again…
    _ _ _ _ _ _

    My response to Melba “Jean” Durham, who claims that she has had “seed ticks” and “ear wiglets” on her body for THREE YEARS, may I suggest that you take a bath occasionally?

    Also, there are ear-washer products on the market that you can buy, or just put a little isopropyl alcoh0ol in your ears, like we always did after swimming in the public pool at the local park.

    And if you are THAT sure that some “ear wiglets” are in your ears, go to a doctor & let him/her get them out with tweezers.

    Also, hair grows at more than an inch a year. If you have things in your hair, get a barber to cut it close and let the uninfested hair grow back out.

    For kids with head lice (whose eggs stick to the hair strands), there are treatments for those. If you don’t want to cut your hair, you might find something similar at a pharmacy for the “seed ticks” that you say you have stuck in your hair.

    A little embarrassment for 3 years of growing out your short hair is a LOT better that 3 years of torment from imagined bugs.

    if you DO get your hair cut short, go to a dermatologist to have them check your scalp for more of those buried “ear wiglets”.
    _ _ _

    One more thing – if you can PROVE that the manager of your townhome association put these bugs in your residence, CALL a LAWYER & sue them for it.

    Use the money you win in court to move into a unit which is NOT infested, probably in another part of the town you live in, and DON’T let the manager know where you went.
    _ _ _

    THINK, “Jean” – there are plenty of remedies for your “problems”.

    + + + +

    Thanks to ECOsmart for a useful website. I would be glad to try an alternative to the toxic bug sprays people use.

    In fact, I am one of the people who has been asking for such eco-friendly products since the 1970’s, when I started recycling aluminum cans…..

    Thanks,

    Rick

  55. By emaluf. on Nov 11, 2009

    ahhh there’s so many earwigs chilling around my pool I don’t want them to get inside! I’ve tried sparying them but the water from the pool must wash the spray off because they’re always back again. nothing can get rid of them.

  56. By glenda on Nov 19, 2009

    Ear wigs DO BITE and its very very sore. I get a lot on my bathroom floor in the summer and having got up in the night to go to the bathroom, one must have got onto my pj bottoms. i went back to bed and awoke with the most AWFUL pain in my toe. it felt like i had been stung by a hornet or bitten by a spider. for ages and ages it was so sore wearing my shoe. i still have a very red tipped toe and if i touch it or knock off it, it HURTS…..3mths later!! i hate them and will kill any i see. i poured bleach in the cracks by the door and behind the loo and that kept them at bay for awhile…but out they came again. they freak me out. one even crawled across my bedroom carpet and never got to its destination…squash!!!! deadem!!!

  57. By natasha on Dec 2, 2009

    omg hate earwigs they look scary lol well i have some and i wanted to get rid of them because i have kids living in my place

  58. By jeremy w on Dec 3, 2009

    thanks for the help. im fresh out of high school and these guys are appearently my new roommates i was discusted when i found that the place i thought i had to myself was inhabited by what i was raised to believe is a man eater. if they eat spiders they’re my friend. instead of killing them ill take them outside and wait for them to return or go off to reproduce.

  59. By pat on Jan 17, 2010

    Please try glue traps. they crawl on them and get stuck. No poison to worry about. I use them in the basement in the corners and close to the back door. Gets them every time.

  60. By dorian on Feb 2, 2010

    I tell you, when I first moved to my new home in Jan 2010 everything seemed fine and just to be on the safe side, I decided to get an exterminator( Orkin ). I am so glad that I did because after he sprayed the insectide which is safe to humans and the enviroment, spiders and many earwigs surfaced which made me cringe and feel disgusting. I was unable to sleep in for a few days until I was convinced that they were gone. So far it has been a month and I have not seen one, Thanks to Orkin pest control. This article did help out. Yes earwigs are scavangers, just like centipedes which both will sting unless provoked, but I dont want them here. Just remeber have a eco friendly exterminator like Orkin come by your house every three months and good hygeine will keep these annoying, disgusting bastards away. I hope this info was helpful and good luck.

  61. By sandra on Feb 6, 2010

    I got pinched by one when I was a kid and it hurt like hell. Hated them ever since!

  62. By Delicious on Apr 21, 2010

    The article mentioned that they were discovered in the 1990’s. I remember seeing them in the early 80’s in my parents back yard (FL). I thought they were threatning b/c of their hind quarters~!

  63. By rose on May 4, 2010

    I hope they will be gone for my b-day put a can half full of veg oil on the counter tonight will see how it works!!!

  64. By Jessica on May 15, 2010

    Thank you for the info I will use it we are getting infested with these bugs as of now and i am frightened of them it takes me awhile to fall asleep because I am concerned for my two year old whos bed sits lower than mine. I will use the natural remedies you wrote about i hate the smell of the pesticides not to mention its harmful to my daughter, any way again thank you!

  65. By Heidi. on Jun 10, 2010

    good, i found a few in my room and i’ve been afraid to sleep. i feel like they’re going to crwal on me at night.

  66. By Meagan on Jun 13, 2010

    Yes, they pinch and it hurts! I awoke to one crawling up my leg under the sheets last night… by the time I found out what it was, it had already pinched me on the back of my leg, behind my knee. This was last night and it still hurts. Glad to find this product. They are everywhere, especially in our mailbox.

  67. By ann on Jun 16, 2010

    This past two weeks I have been seeing them day and night. I mostly see them in my 6yr old sons room. Tonight I am freaking out and cant sleep because they have been crawling all around his bed, and all around my house. I dont want to find out if they bite or crawl in you. They are disgusting and cant imagen, abiut to throw up thinking about them crawling in or one me or my child. I have been spaying ortho all day and seen a couple dead but they are every where. I refuse to spend another sleepless night looking every where for the nasty bugs. And the people who commented that they have been bite or they crawled in them didnt help ease my mind!! Im more freaked out and dont know what to believe.

  68. By Nikki on Jun 25, 2010

    Earwigs DO bite! My son got bit on his stomach a few years ago and he was in a lot of pain. It left hard bite marks that turned into blisters. Very itchy and painful. Make sure to check your central air units- they love to hide inside!

  69. By william on Jun 27, 2010

    cool this was helpfull… thanx

  70. By tony on Jul 13, 2010

    I was fortunate enough to encounter these little bugs a little too close to my mouth. I went in the kitchen to pick up a used glass near my sink and fill it up with coke. As I finished the drink, lo and behold a male earwig was just crawling at the bottom of the Glass. Who knows what kind of chemicals that bugs been crawling in. And to think that I nearly swallowed it gives me the hereby jeebies.

  71. By LD on Jul 14, 2010

    Well we had just moved 6 weeks ago and these are in the new place . Our poor dog had an upset tummy in the middle of night and we thought she had eaten this bug lol as it was stuck in the jelly like substance that she had vomited. We saved it in a baggy and brought her and the bug to the Vet. The Vet laughed and said no it would not have survived her eatting it but was in the house [more than likley] and came out in the middle of the night attracted to the mess and got stuck lol. She told us the name of it . I would like another way to rid our house of them besides my doggy getting sick and using it as earwig bait .lol I do not want to use chemicals in our house as I have another dog with seizures and I have MS. This product would be great .

  72. By em on Jul 15, 2010

    i am so glad people told me to look them up cuz they were soooo scard of them and i am glad i did to

  73. By Liza on Jul 17, 2010

    I would love to try this product! Please let me know if I am eligible!

  74. By yolanda m on Jul 20, 2010

    a earwig bit me and this information helped so much thank you…. i was so scared i was laying down n i moved a little and i felt something slimy and i moved to see what it was and the earwig bit me….it kind of hurt and it itches but im ok..i was wondering though is it suppose to itch?

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