Geez, I've posted more in the last two days than I have in quite awhile. Anyway, anyone have any ideas for treating pests? I really don't like petro-chem based pesticides, and I can't find Roach Pruf up in this Yankee part of the country.

We are absolutely OVERRUN with earwigs. They really bother my sweet new bride. Really funny, my spending many dollars on stuff we may or may not need she can deal with, but the earwigs give her the willies.

Besides boric acid, anyone have any ideas? Especially for post Y2K?

-- Jon Williamson (pssomerville@sprintmail.com), July 04, 1999

Answers

Roll up slightly damp newspapers and place on the ground overnight. In the morning, you should have lots of the nasty little critters hiding out in the layers of paper. Then-burn them, scald them, treat them to a nice bath in something caustic or????-what ever floats your boat.

-- Sharon L (sharonl@volcano.net), July 04, 1999.

jonnie,

to get her used to the idea start out with eartoupees instead of earwigs. you should know by now that you have to warm these sweet new brides up very slowly. very, very slooowly.

-- corrine l (corrine@iwaynet.net), July 04, 1999.

Try spaying vinegar, most bugs like spiders hate vinegar! It's worth a try!

-- freddie (freddie@thefreeloader.com), July 04, 1999.

PERMA-GUARD>ALL NATURAL INGREDIENT,S. find info.>at YAHOO

-- the-best. (dogs@zianet.com), July 04, 1999.

Diatomaceous earth from nursery. Not harmful for humans but kills had- shelled bugs.

-- Not Again! (Seenit@ww2.com), July 04, 1999.

Hello,

They are nocturnal critters. Put one inch stacks of newspaper around the trouble area, dampen them and a few mornings later roll them up and burn or shake them out into a burn barrel or.... Also have heard that some folks cut up an old hose into 6-8" pieces and make damp and set around, then daily shaking out the critters to their death. I also have found they LOVE clothes that my toddler leaves in his play area - another good trap. I feel this is the best sort of solution instead of using broad spectrum insecticides....simple and effective. Good luck!

P.S. Chickens work really well too!

-- Kristi (securx@succeed.net), July 04, 1999.

I've had decent success with the diatomaceous earth approach. Haven't tried the trapping idea. I will.

-- Bill (billclo@msgbox.com), July 04, 1999.

Jon:

I opt for the damp trap method. When I moved to this house, there were myriads of earwigs, both outside and inside. Earwigs are fascinating to examine. Nocturnal scavengers, earwigs will climb up on bathtowels to eat skin cells, feast inside old pizza boxes and creep into clothing and newspapers on floors. It takes firm pressure to squash them because of their tough exoskeletons. I couldn't handle being near earwigs if they were one meter in length.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), July 04, 1999.

During England's warm months (yes, we do have some), those lovely cottage gardens gradually become dotted with small clay plant pots upended atop tomato stakes. The pots are stuffed with hay (I expect you could use dried weeds) and the unsuspecting earwigs take shelter in their attractive new homes--very convenient for drowing in soapy water. (Ordinary dishwashing soap is preferred.)

Driving a tomato stake into your bedroom floor, however, is not to be recommended. You could import some spiders, but I doubt your bride will appreciate such ingenuity. Should she prove the exception to the rule, orb weavers won't mind crunching on crispy critters, like earwigs. They will even eat grasshoppers, should the occasion arise.

The following may be of real help.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pmra-arla/qpn2-e.html

Introduction

Native of Europe, the European earwig was first sited in Canada at Carbonear, Newfoundland, in a report covering the period 1827-1835. Its presence was also recorded at Newport, Rhode Island in 1911. Having few North American predators, it moved west to California and then rapidly made its way north. In many areas of eastern Canada and British Columbia it has become a garden pest. It can damage leaves, fruits, vegetables and flowers, particularly when plants are young. When earwigs are numerous, they may invade homes but will not breed indoors.

Introduction

The common name "earwig" is derived from a European superstition of ancient origin that these insects enter the ears of sleeping persons. Despite their formidable appearance and reputation, earwigs are not directly harmful to humans. Indeed, earwigs are often beneficial in habit, acting as scavengers of decaying matter and predators of insect larvae, slug eggs, aphids, and other garden pests.

Description of the adult earwig:

The length of the adult earwig is approximately 1.5 to 2.0 cm long. It is elongated and flattened, with a tough, shiny, reddish-brown exoskeleton and antennae about half as long as the body. This insect is distinguished by prominent pincers, or forceps, at the end of its body. The male has a large, curved pair, whereas the female's are smaller and nearly straight. The earwig uses these fierce looking appendages in defense to grasp attacking insects, and during courtship. Adults have small, leathery wings. To fly, they must take off from a high place as their wings are not strong enough to lift them from the ground.

Lifecycle

Earwigs live only one year. They spend the winter hiding just below the soil surface, usually close to house foundations. Warm weather brings them out of hibernation.

In the spring, each female lays as many as 60 round, pearly white eggs in a nest in the top 5 cm of the soil. The mother tends the young in the nest for the first two weeks. When they are about 6 mm long, they leave the nest in search of food. An earwig will shed its skin, or molt, four times before reaching adulthood in about 70 days. The young are similar in general appearance to the adult, but smaller. About one fifth of the females lay a second batch of eggs in June. The young from these appear in July and August.

Habitat

During the day, earwigs like to hide in cool, dark, moist places. They crawl under stones, in garden rubbish, in tubular legs of garden furniture, wooden fences, hollow aluminum doors and in other cracks and crevices.

Earwigs come out of hiding at dusk to begin foraging. While decaying organic matter forms the largest part of their diet, they also feed on the tender shoots, leaves and blossoms of such flowering plants as marigolds, roses, carnations, clematis, dahlias, zinnias, gladioli, chrysanthemums and asters. They can chew on garden vegetables such as lettuce, celery, potatoes, beans, carrots, sweet corn and cole crops. Earwigs are also carnivorous, eating other small insects and sometimes even each other.

In search of food and shelter, they crawl over the ground, climb houses, fences and trees, and usually begin to infiltrate homes in June or July. What is particularly objectionable is to find these insects among foodstuffs, clothes and occasionally between bed covers.

Modification of Habitat

The best time to begin implementing control measures is in early spring, during dry, warm weather, when the earwigs are young. In populated areas, control is most effective when carried out on a neighbourhood or community basis.

Since earwigs overwinter just below the soil surface and females lay their eggs in small nests, cultivating the soil can disturb the overwintering earwigs and expose newly laid eggs to the dry surface where they are less likely to survive. Exposing adults to the surface will attract birds, insect predators such as the praying mantis and certain parasitic flies.

Keeping the lawn and garden free of debris and decaying organic matter from early spring to late fall is also a very important control method. Grass clippings, fallen leaves, garden chaff, weeds and old wood should not be allowed to accumulate.

Starting vegetable gardens as early as possible will give plants a headstart on the young nymphs when they emerge from their nests in June.

Physical Control

Non-chemical methods such as trapping and baiting have been found to be effective in controlling earwigs.

Traps

Traps that appeal to the earwig's need for shelter include pieces of corrugated cardboard or wood with grooved surfaces facing each other and secured by a rubber band. Place them, standing on end, in shrubbery, hedges and around trees, and in areas where earwigs commonly seek shelter.

Flower pots may be stuffed with moistened straw, hay or newspaper, then inverted onto stakes planted in the ground. Hollow bamboo canes open at both ends, short sections of old garden hose, or rubber tubing, can be tied into bundles and placed under vegetation, against a fence, or anywhere else earwigs congregate. Empty traps each morning into a pail of hot water, or water topped with kerosene or detergent.

Baiting

Natural Attractants - Earwigs are strongly attracted by fish oil and to a lesser extent to vegetable and other oils. Aluminum plates, sardine cans or other shallow containers partly filled with oil and buried to the rims in the soil will attract and trap many earwigs. This method can also be effective using empty UNRINSED frozen juice containers. Fill the tins 2/3 of the way with water, top them with liquid soap, and place them near foundation walls and throughout the garden.

Effective Earwig Control

Native of Europe, the European earwig was first sited in Canada at Carbonear, Newfoundland, in a report covering the period 1827-1835. Its presence was also recorded at Newport, Rhode Island in 1911. Having few North American predators, it moved west to California and then rapidly made its way north. In many areas of eastern Canada and British Columbia it has become a garden pest. It can damage leaves, fruits, vegetables and flowers, particularly when plants are young. When earwigs are numerous, they may invade homes but will not breed indoors.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), July 04, 1999.

Let me tell you they do go into the ear at night in bed. My husband woke up with something in his ear. He put a Qtip in there and it must have disturbed the critter and he popped out. The rest of the night we used cotton for the ears. We figured that was just a fluke. Well, not so. The very next night I put cotton in my ears when going to bed just to be sure. Thank goodness because one landed on my face in the middle of the night and I swear he bit me.

Thanks for all the suggestions, we are going to try an organic one.

-- barbara white (JBWHITE552@ATT.NET), October 31, 2004.