The presence of earwigs is not an interesting experience. When you have them in your home or garden, the first thing and the most important thing is to device the methods of getting rid of or simply kill them. This piece highlights several ways and approaches that you can use to control an infestation from these insects.
Table of Contents
How to get rid of earwigs in my house & Garden
The sub topics below distinctively discuss the steps you can take to remove the bed bugs from your house and the garden.
Earwigs in house and outside
The first thing to do when you want to control the earwigs in your house is to always ensure that you eradicate those ones outdoor. If not, the efforts of eradicating them from your house would be useless.
According to David J. Shetlar, an entomologist from the Ohio State University, it is more prudent to reduce the stones and any wooden materials outside your house to curb the infestation. Deal with all the moist conditions and air conditioning that could encourage the survival of earwigs.[1]
Below are more measures you can take to control them
- Keep the warm outdoor lights off. The earwigs are also attracted to warm lights at night. Having them off keeps the pests away.
- Destroy the earwig nests and eggs. You could use examples of the sea salt and pesticides. This keeps them under control before they make their way into the house.
- Remove any dead logs from your compound and sweep away the piles of leaves that keep falling from trees.
- Fill up the cracks and holes that are potential hiding places for the earwigs. Also, ensure that if you have an infestation of centipedes in your compound, you eliminate them. The centipedes attract earwigs.
- Use a trap that is made from shoebox and molasses. This is an easy and effective method. Under this, you should add a little molasses to the shoe box then poke a few holes on the shoebox around the base. The holes should be large enough to allow the insects to enter. Put some of the molasses into the box and then cover it with a lid. Place the box outside of your house and you will definitely collect a number by morning,
- Purchase and use the botanical insecticides. These are natural and less toxic compared to the commercial pesticides. They also have shorter half-lives and thus lesser side effects. You can use them as spot treatments or you can spray them around the entire area that is infested.
In my garden on plants
In the garden, carry out the things below:
First, lay one foot sections of bamboo or garden hose in the beds of your plants. Check the progress each morning and dump the earwigs that are trapped. Besides, you could cover the stems of the plants with petroleum jelly. The earwigs are not able to crawl up the trap.
Try sprinkle some borax around an infested woodpile. Ensure your children are out of reach of this because it could be toxic when ingested and could cause a lot of irritation when the chemical gets into contact with the skin.
Use alcohol which is also able to kill the earwigs. It acts as a surfactant or wetting agent which is able to penetrate the coat of the insect and kill it once contact is made. A specific example of alcohol is the isopropanol which also called rubbing alcohol.
- Use the alcohol that has 70% strength.
- Mix the alcohol with water in equal parts when using 70% alcohol
- When using 95% alcohol, mix one part of alcohol with about 1.5 parts of water.[2]
How to kill earwigs and Best Killers
Earwig killers can both be natural or commercial/ chemical killers. The discussion in the following sub topics tries to break down and explain how each works and the benefits that come with its use.
Using the Ortho Bug Geta plus Snail, Slug & Insect Killer
This product kills the earwigs as well as other insects in the garden and your home. It kills the insects directly. You are required to sprinkle it to the affected area and then spread it widely. This will kill the insects far and wide.
You can use this product around the plants, the vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants in your lawn. This product works best in the moist soils.
It is beneficial because it remains active and still works even after it has rained. That is why it can be used to deal with all other insects.
Use the Niban Granular Pest Control Insecticide Bait
This chemical is used to attract earwigs once it is spread out to an area of infestation.
When the insects consume the chemical, the chemical blocks the growth of the microorganism inside the stomach thus making it starve and then finally die.
This product is available in bottles and even granule form. You use the mechanical spreader to distribute the insecticide to wider areas.
You can use it whether inside or outside your house. When you use it at your home, you apply it around the crevices, holes, attics and any small openings.
In the garden, you should apply where the infestation is high. It is beneficial because it can stand the rain and also endure the hot and dry environments. It is also harmless and odorless.
Use Monterey Sluggo Plus
This is a product that is made from natural sources created from bacteria in the soil. This is very easy to use. It has shakers to help in the natural application. It kills earwigs completely when it is used.
You should use this product only outside your house. All you have to do is scatter the product to the area that is affected.
Use it in the gardens, lawns, flowers, vegetables and other non-commercial greenhouses. The benefit of this is that it kills insects of all kinds and it is equally inexpensive and easy to use.
Light Emitting Device (LED) Yellow Bug Light Bulbs
This bulb is able to either kill or repel the earwigs. It makes your house not to be visible to the earwigs whenever they want to access.
You are supposed to leave this light on for the entire part of the night. They are therefore very relevant because the insects come out at night.
This bulb will be able to serve for a very long time of about 25,000 hours. This therefore makes it more reliable and effective and efficient.
It works twice because it scares the insects and then kills the earwigs at the same time. Earwigs perceive light between the wavelength of about 650 and 300 nm.
Because of its high wavelength, the earwigs are not able to see the yellow color
Earwig Traps
Setting up traps for the earwigs could be a very efficient way of dealing with the earwigs. They are active at night and therefore you can capture prevent them from escaping.
Every trap has a unique way of how it works. This is illustrated in the individual discussion of each of the traps below.
How they work and their effectiveness
For you to conclude that a method is effective in the control of earwigs, then it should be able to put to an ultimate end to their movement from the outside into your house.
Traps are reliable and effective because they tend to immobilize the earwigs and thus control their infestation.
The Biocare earwig trap
This is a product that is made from non-toxic materials that kill the earwigs once they crawl on them. Apply the product on or near the surfaces or holes that have earwigs.
It will catch the earwigs and then keep them inside. The benefit is that it is made from very high quality materials that can be reused after the first application. It is also natural and has no toxic effects.
The Trapper Insect Trap
This is glue that is non-toxic and is made to trap earwigs. Besides of its effect of catching, you can also use it to check the severity of the insects in your home. You can use it both as large and small sized traps.
You can attach it to any clean surface because it has a sticky surface on the back side. You can use this trap both in and outside your home and it is very effective.
Being versatile, you can use this product on a number of insects. It is also non-toxic and thus no health hazard implications when used.
Tube trap- DIY at home Earwig trap
People who have used it find it so useful because it utilizes the locally available resources. It is also simple to use. The procedure of making and using would be:
- Take a paper and then roll it into a tube with a diameter of about one inch.
- Dampen it by dipping it in some water
- Put the rolled up and damped paper in a shade probably in the morning
- The trap is ready and when the earwigs see it, they will use it as shelter when the temperature outside is unfavorable.
- Take the earwig roll and then dispose it.
Earwig Natural Repellents-What do earwigs they hate?
Despite there being some things that attract earwigs to your house, there are some other natural products that scare the earwigs away.
Garlic and pepper spray
It works to prevent the earwigs from feeding on plants that are very useful. One the best sprays would contain for instance some cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of cayenne pepper and a tablespoon of biodegradable dishwashing liquid. The procedure of preparation;
- Allow the mixture to steep for about 24 hours and then squeeze solids out and then pour the liquid into a spray bottle.
- Carry out a test on some parts of the plant and then monitor the area for about 48 hours before you go ahead and treat the whole plant
- Afterwards, spray the mixture around the entire population probably early in the morning. Carry out this process as regular as possible till the earwigs are completely eliminated.
Essential oils
There are a number of essential oils that you can use. For instance, neem oil and neem leaves are effective insecticides when used. It kills the earwigs within a very short period of time. The neem plant could never be infested by the earwigs because of this property.
The neem oil works by getting into the body of the insect and thereafter destabilize the functioning of the hormones of the insect. The wig would stop eating and mating. Consequently, the life cycle would come to an end and then the earwigs end up dying.[3]
The use of cedar cone or oil
This oil has great dehydrating and suffocation g properties to the earwigs. Besides, the oil also is able to emulsify the oil fats of the insect and then kill them.
You can spray your entire house with the oil and then spread out some cedar chippings to your garden and the flower beds.
Sodium lights
These are somewhat much unknown pest control methods that is very effective. Many insects are always attracted to the blue lights. However, sodium lights produces lights that are less blue.
The earwigs will be less attracted to the sodium lights when you have them at home. They thus act as very effective repellants. For that reason, when you have sodium lights at your home, the insects will be scared away from getting into your house.
Other Ways to Prevent & Control Earwig Infestation
There are other methods that you can get rid of the earwigs from your home or garden. Here are some more things you ought to do to control bed bug population.
There are a number of natural methods that you can undertake to deal with the earwigs both in your home and the garden. Here are some of the natural remedies that you can employ.
Use a vacuum cleaner
It is very easy to vacuum the earwigs. It is always important for you to dispose the vacuum bags once you have used them to vacuum your house. This is because the vacuums would smell like the insect when they rot.
Use diatomaceous earth
This is a safe and natural way of handling the earwigs. It is obtained from the shells of fossils. It is not toxic to human and thus works without fear of dangerous effects.
The pieces of the diatomaceous earth has sharp edges and this makes it detrimental to the exoskeleton of the earwigs.
It pierces the exoskeleton and this makes the insect to lose a lot of water from its body. At the end of the day, it gets dehydrated and eventually dies.
You could also apply the earth to the places where the ear wigs live or frequent. Apply it as many times as you can. This powder works best in the dry environments.
Therefore when it rains, ensure you repeat the application because rain could wash away the powder.
Boric acid
This is also one of the most preferred home remedies that are preferred to get rid of earwigs. You could obtain this from your local hardware. The good thing is that this is very harmless to humans and pets but strong on the earwigs.
When the earwigs encounter the earwigs, they ingest in their system and are unable to excrete.
This acid destroys the metabolism of the insect and kills it in a short time. Sprinkling it all around your home is the most effective way to deal with this.
Dish soap
This is a simple and readily available remedy that you can use at your home. It has a great deal of proven effectiveness. It is a cheap, easy to use and readily available remedy.
The working mechanism of the detergents is by breaking down the waxy fats that enclose the skeleton of the earwigs. This leaves the earwigs exposed and susceptible to damages of dehydration.
They will finally die. All you need to do is spray some mixture of the soap suspected to have earwigs. To increase the potency, you could add some vinegar solution.
Further Reading
- Can Earwigs get into your Ear?
- Earwig Bug-What they are, Pictures, Types, Origin + more Facts & Faqs
- Earwig Bites Symptoms, Dogs, Humans & How to Treat
References
[1] http://www.antcafe.com/documents/IPM_in_Schools_12.08.pdf
[2]https://www.almanac.com/pest/earwigs
[3]http://homeguides.sfgate.com/earwig-repellent-87684.htm