Detailed information on Linear Earwig (Doru lineare)

g

grammy2many

| September 2020 | Positive

After years of finding destructive earwigs both in the house and in the garden, they now, since June, seem to be eradicated. We had planted twice and the garden was destroyed twice by the earwigs this year. Then we planted one last time and the tree frogs and toads arrived and in large numbers, just as they used to be before the Southern California droughts. Since then the earwigs and anything else destructive have been eaten by the little frogs and toads. It is quite rewarding to be looking into tomato plants at eye level and now see the little frogs just sitting there waiting for something to eat. I hope that next year, drought or not, that the little frogs and toads are still prolific in the area.

We had tried all the conventional methods to get rid of the earwigs an... read more

g

gardenergal17

Canton--Football HOF, OH (Zone 6a) | April 2014 | Negative

My first experience was years ago, while determining what was destroying my Blue Salvia annuals. After I identified the culprit and eventually tossed my salvia plants, once they became unidentifiable from the destruction, the earwigs moved on to my lupines.

They dwell in dark, damp and tight locations, during the day, and eat at night. They really aren't to picky about food sources, but they do tend toward plant structures that are deeply tubular in nature.

In 2013, I overturned a couple of large flagstone, and each stone revealed a large colony of earwigs scurrying in every direction. This happened right near one of our very old silver maple trees, where I was watering new plants on a regular basis until they established themselves, and these critters ran in... read more

g

gypsygardener06

Cornish, NH | August 2012 | Negative

I just said, "I wonder if the earwigs are eating my beans." Then I happened upon this site and found that they are eating my beans... I'm going to bury a tuna can or a cat food can with either beer or oil with soy sauce. I do appreciate the non poisonous remedies. I'm full time in an RV for 6 years and this is my first summer garden in many years. I am grateful for the info and will report back on my results. These bugs have been hiding under the RV in tarps and under lawn chairs, creeping me out since I got to NH a month ago.

a

angelina62

Brownlee Park, MI | June 2012 | Negative

Yes, I agree totally on these being an awful nasty bug. I live in battle creek, Mich. and we have them everywhere I seem to look, outside, inside, and everywhere in between. I REALLY HATE THIS BUG. I would rather be stung by a bee, rather than pinched by these bugs.

a

alaskanray

John Day, OR | June 2011 | Negative

These are horrible creatures! I have found them in my house under bags of garbage and in pet food dishes! They are as bad as cockroaches! Ewww!

V

Vattina

Garrettsville, OH | August 2010 | Negative

Destructive to plants and are everywhere--breeding in my mailbox!

K

Kiyosa

Hull, MA | July 2010 | Neutral

Earwigs have destroyed my basil, peppers and chard. I don't mind sharing with them, but they leave me almost nothing! Now I am using old tuna cans or small yogurt containers buried to the rims, then filled with cheap beer. Works great!

a

aquilusdomini

Jackson, MI | July 2010 | Positive

They scare the bejeesus out of me but i do not hate them. When i was a kid i awoke with one in my bed and ever since have been freaked out by them, however, i will not kill them. They are useful despite their scary appearance. We've got bunches of them in the yard this year (and an abnormal amount in the house too) but they're great for the soil so i just capture the rogues from the house and put them back outside. Do not hate or kill these creatures because they are ugly, a good many ugly things are good for the earth. And despite popular myth, they do not get in your ear or go up your nose to eat your brain.

D

DDfan

Ankeny, IA | July 2010 | Negative

These Linear Earwigs are everywhere including inside the house. I never saw one until I bought several bags of cocoa mulch 4 years ago. The bags were infected and now my yard is infected. The coldest Iowa winter doesn't kill them.

J

JIMMYBOB

Taylor, PA | June 2010 | Positive

GONNA TRY THE TUNA CAN TRAP BEFORE THEY EAT ALL MY WATERMELON PLANTS!!!! LET YOU ALL KNOW HOW IT WORKS OUT.

I

Ithiel

Detroit, MI | June 2010 | Negative

Back in the day these monsters would completely hollow out the stalks of my Foxglove plants, Hollyhocks, Delphiniums, and anything else that had a stem bigger than the circumference of a straw. Awful pest.

P

PinetopPlanter

Auburn Four Corners, PA (Zone 5a) | May 2010 | Negative

In my experience, this bug is not harmless, as another poster stated. I have found them in plants which grow from buds contained within tightly curled leaves, where the buds and young leaves were eaten or destroyed by these bugs. When disturbed, they give off a tar-like odor. I once laid a long-sleeved shirt down on a fence and, when putting it on later, was soundly pinched by one who had gotten into the sleeve. They seem similar to roaches in their liking of damp/moist/dark places and, like roaches, will eat plant material, whether it is dead or not. Best natural control I've found is to try to provide more air movement and sunlight, to remove loose bark at the base and trunk of trees, where they like to hide, and to rake away decaying leaves and other matter around plants with infestatio... read more

t

tomenajijic

| April 2010 | Neutral

It may be helpful if you could post the activity of the bugs so one could determine their usefulness or destructiveness by information rather than personal or 'ICK' factors.

L

Lauribob

Twisp, WA | February 2010 | Negative

I hate earwigs. Creepy little things will hide under anything and scare the daylights out of you when you turn it over.

s

skiekitty

Parker, CO (Zone 5b) | July 2009 | Negative

They're destroying all of my roses from the inside out! They're eating the rose buds.. never seen them before in my life and this year I am unduated with the nasty things!! Do mantis' eat them???

S

Scorpianqueenbe

Knoxville, TN | June 2009 | Negative

Yes, they are here in East Tennessee. This year they are everywhere like I've never seen before. I am trying my hand at raised bed organic gardening this year. I also have a puppy and an aging cat. That said, how in the world can I rid myself of these little monsters? They killed my pepper plants! I think I was stung/pinched/bit by one four days ago and I've had a nasty reaction. Help!

b

brentp

Bountiful, UT | June 2009 | Negative

I've always thought they were creepy looking, but harmless....

I now see them as pests eversince I caught them chewing on my newly emerging potato plants :(

P

PeteM

Brush, CO | June 2009 | Negative

They are definitely night time bugs. Went out last night and they were busy munching on my melon and pepper plants. When I shined the light on them they scurried to the chicken coop and disappeared underneath the lap siding. I couldn't figure out what was eating my plants, but now I know.

h

herblady2

Willits, CA | August 2008 | Neutral

I used to find these critters frequently but since I have my chickens out in the yard the earwigs as well as sow bugs, ants and jerusalem crickets are becoming much rarer. This is good except the chickens get annoyed when I turn over wood, etc. and no more bugs are available. I've started raising (wouldn't have believed this before I got the chickens) mealworms for the chicks to eat.

C

Cheryl_103

Pittsburgh, PA (Zone 6a) | July 2008 | Negative

These nasty-looking buggers seem to love the taste of my echinacea petals, both pink and white. They either chew off the ends of the petals before the bud opens, or chew holes in them after they've opened. I don't want to use any sprays on the flowers since the honeybees & buttlerflies love them.
I've heard diatomaceous earth around the base of the plant helps, we'll see.

t

thethorinator

Clinton, MA (Zone 5a) | July 2008 | Negative

I have noticed something very peculiar about this horrendous creepy-crawlies...the seem to secrete some kind of black spots, like maybe their exquivalent of urine onto the baby pepper plants that they are getting ready to eat and then, with almost the worst type of forbodding, there are clearly spots where they have been gnawing on the leaves and they were on the leaves of one when I sent out the other morning! I can't grow peppers anymore for even the Dawn doesn't seem to slow them down, much. I wonder whether the vegetable oil idea would work on my balcony...hmmm. I will try it and get back to you all! Because boy do they irritate the living ____ out of me. LOL I suppose it makes sense that the plants, which contain oils, would make vegetable oil attractive to these and other insect... read more

D

DBartholow

Mechanicsville, MD | June 2008 | Negative

We have these in Maryland in hordes! The feed on foliage at night and seem to love my hostas the best. They are ravenous plant eaters and like almost any soft-leaved plant.
I have resorted to using Raid, I also hand-pick them and squash them when I see them.

x

xaia

| June 2008 | Neutral

I woke up one morning and got ready to go to work, went downstairs and poured myself a cup of coffee that I had delay brewed.. I took the first sip and thought to myself, "Wow this coffee tastes bitter!" I held the coffee in my mouth and swished it around to feel what I interpreted to be coffee grounds. So I spit in the sink and there it was, an earwig. Not a very pleasant thing to drink with your coffee in the morning. I don't mind them otherwise, but when they're in your coffee.. it's a whole different ball game. They have such a rancid taste! I brushed my teeth and gargled for at least 5 minutes. I don't think one friend of mine failed to hear about my steamy cup of java!

b

bamboolover

| May 2008 | Negative

I have found this bug eating my elephant ear bulbs. I could not figure out why my plants were doing so poorly, so this past summer I dug the bulbs up to store for the winter, not something I normally do. When I dug them up guess who was having lunch. Some may say they do no damage, but I beg to differ.

l

lauragene

Lander, WY (Zone 4a) | April 2008 | Positive

I find these little guys interesting and admirable. The female is excellent mother, for an insect, caring for her eggs diligently, moistening and turning them. Earwigs can pinch, people are right about that, but they don't do horrible, deadly things and they do not crawl into ears (nor do they sew bad little boys' ears shut, as one person informed me). I have never had any damage from their clustering in damp places in my gardens or under sun-scald shields on my newly planted trees. I welcome them to my compost pile. To remove them from the house, where they occasionally appear in potted plants, I place a glass upside down over them, then slip a piece of card paper under the glass, turn the glass rightside up with the card as a lid, and carry the whole shebang outside to empty it. I use th... read more

a

arieavia

Aransas Pass, TX | April 2008 | Neutral

Yes indeedy they are a creeper. Though I haven't seen them in my plants. I do see them alot under rocks and falling out of my cotton wood tree.
Aransas Pass Tx.

k

krz2sum

Cleveland, OH | April 2008 | Neutral

I'm not positive that this is the same variety of earwig we have here in Cleveland, OH, but I absolutely agree with the ICK factor most of you have expressed.

I'm going to try diatomaceous earth on these little buggers around my house, as I've heard that anything that crawls basically is done in by it. I know it's hard on the ants that keep invading. And I'm not big on spraying poisonous chemicals on my foundation that just end up getting washed off and end up where? I don't believe the diatomaceous earth is harmful to people or pets. Let me know if anyone else has already tried it.

c

chemijorus

| September 2007 | Negative

Very destructive creatures that seem intent on chewing holes in every plant in my garden near Toronto, Canada.I tried using earwigbait but it had no effect.

t

theflyingcrane

Frisco, CO | September 2007 | Negative

Oh boy do these guys bite!!!! I was cleaning out the lupine, as they had taken over the garden and needed to be thinned. They were inside the hollow stems and just swarmed up my hands and arms....ouch. A quick benedril helped, but the bite areas stayed swollen and itchy for days. Be careful.

g

goldfinch4

Ripon, WI (Zone 4a) | August 2007 | Negative

They get inside flower buds and destroy them before they even get a chance to bloom. The other day a stem on my canna broke off. When I removed it dozens of these little monsters came running out. Gee - I wonder why it broke off! I hate these creepy little things.

d

dkm65

Cedar Falls, IA (Zone 4b) | July 2007 | Neutral

These are harmless detritivores, and not garden pests. While their appearance clearly disturbs many people, they are beneficial in that they help build the soil. I hope people aren't using pesticides because the appearance is disturbing.

s

staceysmom

(GayLynn) Appleton, WI (Zone 5a) | July 2007 | Negative

These things give me the willies! Nasty little things. I think they are related to the roach. I have found that if you take a spray bottle and fill it with water then pour in a bit of dishwashing liquid soap it will kill them. I go out at night with a flashlight and spray everyone of the little buggers I can find with the dishwashing solution. Kills 'em on contact. The dishwashing solution is not toxic to plants either. Try it, it works.

r

rachierabbit

Olympia, WA (Zone 7b) | June 2007 | Negative

I can't stand these little buggers. They chewed almost all of my bean seedling down to nothing! They also chewed on my newly emerging nasturtiums and sunflowers. They literaly destroyed my hyacinth bean seedlings. Thanks for the tip about the tuna can, veg oil and soy sauce. I'm going to put them everywhere, thank goodness I like tuna sandwiches!

They hide in my rabbits alfalfa pellet feeders, under watering cans and everywhere else. I read that you can also roll up a newspaper and set it in your flower bed during the day (they don't like the sun) they will crawl in. Just before sunset pinch the ends of the newspaper roll to keep them in. Then take them and pour them into whatever you want to drown them in. I have not tried this yet. I think I will try the tuna can... read more

S

Sabrina1978

Gibsonburg, OH | June 2007 | Negative

These are everywhere here. We have to use the powder all around the foundation every other year or we are overrun with them in the house. Keep them away from small children and babies, they hurt!!

d

dirtisgood

Tehachapi, CA | June 2007 | Negative

To kill earwigs bury an empty tuna can, not rinsed out, so it is level with the soil, fill 3/4 full with cheap veggie oil, add a few drops of soy sauce, sit back, and watch the little buggers drown. Great for Sal bugs too. It sounds crazy but it works.

P

PlantGirl1982

Cedar Rapids, IA (Zone 5a) | May 2007 | Negative

These are nasty bugs. I see them hiding under flower pots and such during the day. Last summer I would go outside at night and see them on my daylilies, pansies, clematis, jacobs ladder, basil, tomatoes, peppers, just about everything with a flower or fruit. I would open my cupboards and there they were. Anyone know how to get rid of them? I dont have them yet this year in Iowa, they usually dont start coming out until early to mid June and then again in aug- sept. I try to do organic gardening but I would like to get rid of them. I think they overwinter in leaf piles and such that accumalate under my front porch. It is really difficult though to get under there with a rake, I have a raised porch with lattice all the way around it... anyway, they are disguisting bugs and I am not ... read more

j

jharanczuk

Wisconsin Dells, WI (Zone 4b) | May 2007 | Negative

I have found these little critters everywhere!! They are anywhere that is a little damp. I have found the only way to get rid of them is keep a little Diazanime down. The only problem with this is it is toxic to pets.

r

rosemount

Charlottesville, VA | April 2007 | Negative

I took one of these bugs to a local nursery last summer to see if I could get it ID'd. It suddenly seemed to be everywhere in my garden. The staff person said, "Oh, that's an earwig but we've always called them "pincher bugs" because if you touch one, you get pinched." She's right!

t

tropicsofohio

Hilliard, OH (Zone 6b) | April 2007 | Negative

i hate these friggin things, they get into every crack in my trees. when i see these things in my house, the're DEAD!!! nasty things give me the creeps

K

KinWisconsin

Poynette, WI | March 2007 | Negative

AHHH!!! They are all over the place in warmer weather!
In the lawn furniture, in planters, under planters, in the plants, in the house....
I don't like to use insecticides, but may consider it! They are almost as bad as the Asian beetles/lady bugs and box elder bugs!

m

mompea

Bloomfield Hills, MI | March 2007 | Negative

I hate these bugs! Come spring we're inundated with them. They love all things moist and dark, under parts of plants, under rocks and in any garden plant litter. They do not confine themselves to the out of doors. It is not uncommon on opening doors to have dozens of these creatures run from under the door and from the top of the door. I think I would have to make my house a toxic dump to get rid of the earwigs and I refuse to use poisons.

V

Vee8ch

Palm Bay, FL (Zone 9b) | August 2006 | Neutral

First time I've ever seen one. Found it on low growing weeds.

Linear Earwig

Dorulineare

Featured Videos