Summer season is right here! Vegetable gardens have yielded the primary tomatoes of the season, perennial borders are overflowing with colourful blooms, fruit is ripening within the orchards, and rose bushes are flushing out with their second spherical of flowers. On the floor, it’d seem that summer time brings nothing however a profusion of pleasant blooms, lush greenery, and a cornucopia of scrumptious summer time veggies, however alongside all this flowery and fruitful abundance are the bugs, birds, rodents, and bigger critters which are the bane of any gardener’s existence: European earwigs.
There are such a lot of pests that may wreak havoc within the panorama, and the listing of summer-active backyard menaces is lengthy. Deer, rabbits, possums, and gophers are year-round irritants and don’t take summer time breaks. Aphids, scale, slugs, and snails are additionally pesky a lot of the yr, reaching peak annoyance ranges throughout spring and autumn. Rose slugs present up in late spring, lingering on via early summer time. Left unchecked, these soft-bodied sawfly larvae can skeletonize rose foliage, injury blooms, stress rose bushes and devastate an entire rose backyard. Summer season ripening fruit can find yourself feeding total flocks of bluejays or crows—which is extraordinarily irritating once you’re planning on cherry or peach pies! Within the veggie backyard, cucumber beetles trouble all cucurbits, flea beetles pester eggplants and bean crops, and tomato hornworms chew their means via the tomatoes. However the “Worst All-Spherical Summer season Pest” award should go to the European earwig (Forficula auricularia). Native to Europe, this voracious, omnivorous insect first arrived in the USA in 1907. It unfold quick everywhere in the nation, reaching the West Coast by 1923.
What’s an earwig?
Earwigs (aka pincher bugs) are slender bugs that get their title from an outdated fantasy that they crawl into ears and tunnel into brains whereas an individual is asleep. Whereas this superstition has zero fact to it, earwigs—with their oversize, curved pinchers—are nonetheless fairly horrifying up shut. Ranging in dimension from ¼ to 1 inch lengthy, earwigs have elongated, leathery, flattened our bodies, six legs, and antennae that measure about half of their physique size. These pesky critters are actually solely an issue throughout summer time, however they could be a massive downside if their inhabitants isn’t managed. They’re most lively at night time and conceal through the day in darkish, confined, damp areas.
spot earwig injury within the backyard
Earwigs are voracious and eat a wide range of greens, gentle fruit, and flowers. They chew holes in mature leaves, berries, and blossoms, and might devour entire seedlings and younger crops simply. Earwig feeding may be confused with slug and snail injury, however these gastropods may be dominated out because the perpetrators within the absence of a slime path. An out-of-control earwig infestation may even appear like a rabbit invasion.
management or eradicate earwig populations organically
No one likes a lowly insect wreaking havoc within the backyard. Fortunately, you’ll be able to hold these unwelcome creatures in test. Except all else fails (which it gained’t), keep away from broad-based pesticides—they damage good bugs in addition to dangerous—and check out the next protected, easy-control strategies as a substitute.
Tidy up: Monitor for and clear away potential earwig hiding locations, together with plant particles, bricks, downed fruit, overturned flower pots, and lumber piles. Free, ethereal mulch may shelter earwigs.
Look ahead to damp spots: Earwigs love darkish, damp locations, so reduce extra moisture and hold soil surfaces on the drier facet, if attainable. Be certain that your panorama has good drainage and your irrigation system is freed from leaks.
Create a haven for earwig predators: Pure enemies embrace toads, birds, and lizards, which may all play an necessary position in controlling the earwig inhabitants, so encourage these useful creatures to take up residence in your backyard.
Set out traps: An everyday trapping program is essential. Rolled-up newspapers or quick lengths of PVC pipe make glorious lodging for an earwig. Place them the place you observed an infestation, and within the morning shake out the newspaper or pipe over a pail of soapy water. Alternatively, sink tuna fish cans or empty yogurt containers into the soil in a single day for simple earwig entry after you’ve stuffed them midway with a tasty 50-50 combination of vegetable oil and soy sauce. Put together to be amazed within the morning. My hens price marinated earwigs among the many greatest treats ever.
If the above methods don’t management the earwig infestation and it’s essential to resort to one thing stronger, Sluggo Plus is the best way to go. An environmentally pleasant pelleted bait accepted for natural gardening, Sluggo Plus eradicates not solely earwigs but additionally sowbugs, slugs, snails, and pillbugs. As at all times, comply with all instructions on the label for greatest outcomes.
Hopefully these earwig-eradicating ideas will aid you get pleasure from the fantastic thing about your backyard this summer time.
—Fionuala Campion is the proprietor and supervisor of Cottage Gardens of Petaluma in Petaluma, California.
Pictures: Fionuala Campion
