Why do we have so many earwigs this year?
Well for one thing it has been a wet and slightly warmer spring. These weather conditions have made better that ideal living and growing media for the earwig. They like wet damp hiding places and with a little mulch or lose compost to hid in during the day.
How to identify good earwigs from bad earwigs.
They are all the same so to speak. They are opportunistic eaters. They live on dead decaying matter, eat aphids and other small prey and love young growth of certain plants, like Marigolds. This is shown in the picture with all the cans full of earwigs and decimated marigold plants. The cans were placed next to plants that the earwigs thought were there most tasty.Simple home remedies used to lower the earwigs population.
There are quit a few methods you can use depending on your preference and patience. I prefer a little beer in a small cat food can but there other preparations you can put in the cans.
Predatory insects that help control the earwigs.
Believe it or not, there are other insects and animals that prey on the earwigs. Since the earwigs are nocturnal, hungry birds have to hunt them out in their hiding places during the day. Evening birds and amphibians will be able to find them out and about in the duff on on their favorite plants.
Follow the reference links for more in-depth information.
