Earwig Control – Bryan and College Station, Texas
Due to their foreboding name, people assume earwigs are the type to crawl in your ear, lay eggs, and eat your brain. While it is possible that an earwig may creep into your ear, it’s not exactly their modus operandi.
Earwigs prefer to eat vegetation and they will devour living or decaying plant matter. Not many people realize that earwigs can fly. This is because they keep their wings tucked away under little pads on their backs. Perhaps one of the most elaborate of insects when it comes to how they fold their wings. Their flights cannot be well managed, but it is there if they need it. You can check for the presence of earrings by lifting flower pots during the day and seeing if there are earwigs under the pots. If your garden and yard seem to be overrun with earwigs, give us a call. We offer emergency pest control services too.
DIY Earwig Tip: A good tip for keeping the resident earwig population at your home under control is to make sure to remove all yard waste as soon as you make it. This means removing old boards, plant prunings, and even lawn clippings. Earwigs need a place to hide and the more places to hide, the more earwigs show up in your garden and yard.
Earwigs As Pests
Mostly, earwigs are pests in gardens, but they love moist, damp places and will move right into a damp basement. Dampness and wood mean decaying plant material and earwigs will happily eat damp wood. They are not likely to cause the degree of damage that termites cause, but they can cause wood damage.
Earwigs may also make their way into your home either on garden produce or through the small space under your door. Indoors, you will find them around sinks and places where water is available. These are mostly nocturnal insects and will likely hide during the day.
Earwigs can bite, but mostly they pinch you with their long pinchers located on their hind end. These protruding pincers are why they have the common name “pincher bug”. Larger specimens may be capable of breaking skin.
Earwigs are not poisonous despite the rumors. You run a slight risk of secondary infection from a pinch if the skin is broken, but usually not.
Earwigs are one of the mid-range insect pests that we hear about from early spring until late fall.
Controlling Earwigs
Controlling any insect is a job, but with the right approach, earwigs are manageable. The biggest challenge is that earwigs are found in many places around a yard. That is one reason DIY products never seem to get rid of earwigs completely.
The best way to control earwigs is with a specialized bait program. If earwigs are annoying your family, yard, and garden, give us a call. We provide comprehensive pest control services throughout the Bryan and College Station communities. We also offer Green Pest Control options for yard and garden, and through our vast experience as pest control experts, we always deploy pest control solutions using safety as our first goal. Be sure to ask about our ongoing, affordable pest control options and give us a call if you have questions.
