A few simple homemade traps can dramatically cut down an earwig population in your garden within days. Because earwigs are nocturnal and spend daylight hours hiding in dark, damp crevices, the most effective traps exploit that instinct by offering an irresistible hiding spot or a scented liquid they can’t escape. Here’s how to build and use the best options.
Know When Trapping Is Worth It
Before setting traps everywhere, check whether earwigs are actually causing problems. They’re omnivores, and in many situations they’re beneficial. Earwigs are voracious predators of aphids, insect eggs, and other soft-bodied pests, so a few in your garden can actually work in your favor. In fruit trees especially, earwigs feeding on aphids may be doing more good than harm, unless the tree produces soft fruit like peaches or cherries.
The damage signs that justify trapping are specific. Seedlings stripped of leaves and stems, irregular holes chewed through the leaves of older plants, shallow gouges in stone fruit, and ragged petals on flowers like zinnias, marigolds, and dahlias all point to earwigs. On corn, they feed on the silks and block pollination, leading to poorly developed kernels. On strawberries, you can distinguish earwig damage from slug damage by the absence of slime trails. If you’re seeing these signs, it’s time to trap.
The Soy Sauce and Oil Trap
This is the most effective liquid trap for earwigs, and you can build it from kitchen scraps in about two minutes. The soy sauce acts as a powerful scent attractant, while a layer of vegetable oil on the water’s surface prevents earwigs from climbing back out once they fall in. They drown in the container.
To make one, grab any small, reasonably deep container: a yogurt cup, tuna tin, small jar, or large pill bottle. Fill it about one-third full with water. Add two tablespoons of soy sauce. Then pour in just enough vegetable oil (any kind works) to form a thin film across the surface. Some guides suggest a quarter-inch layer of oil, but a thinner coating is plenty. Place a larger lid or plastic saucer over the top as a rain cover, leaving the sides open so earwigs can crawl in.
Set the trap at the base of plants where you’ve noticed damage, ideally around dusk when earwigs start moving. One trap per two or three plants is enough. In the morning, dump out the contents, rinse, and refill. The liquid stays effective for about a day before the soy sauce scent fades and the trap needs refreshing.
The Damp Newspaper Roll Trap
This method works on pure instinct. Earwigs spend daylight hours searching for tight, moist hiding spots, and a loosely rolled section of damp newspaper is exactly what they’re looking for. It won’t kill them on contact, but it concentrates them in one place so you can dispose of them all at once.
Cut a section of newspaper into about four pieces. Spray the paper lightly with water so it’s damp but not soaking. Roll the pieces loosely, folding them over each other to create plenty of nooks and crevices inside. You want the finished roll to be roughly the diameter of a garden hose. Place it at the base of your affected plants around dusk.
By morning, earwigs will have crawled inside to hide. Pick up the whole roll, drop it into a plastic bag, tie it shut, and throw it away. You can also shake the earwigs out into a bucket of soapy water if you’d rather reuse the newspaper for another night. Corrugated cardboard tubes work the same way if you don’t have newspaper handy.
The Garden Hose Trap
Short sections of old garden hose, about 6 to 12 inches long, work on the same principle as the newspaper roll but last much longer. The dark, hollow interior mimics the crevices earwigs naturally seek out. Clip or tie the hose piece to a stake near the affected plants, positioning the opening close to or even touching a leaf where earwigs have been feeding. In the morning, hold the hose over a bucket of soapy water and knock the earwigs out.
The advantage of hose traps is durability. You can reuse the same pieces all season. The disadvantage is that they only work passively, relying on proximity rather than an attractant, so placement matters more. Put them exactly where you’ve seen feeding damage, not just anywhere in the garden bed.
Placement and Timing That Actually Work
The single biggest factor in whether your trap catches anything is where you put it. Traps only work if they’re placed right where earwigs are already feeding. That means at the base of damaged plants, not in the middle of a pathway or along a fence line. Get the trap’s opening as close to the plant’s foliage as possible.
Deploy traps in the evening, since earwigs emerge after dark. Check and empty them every morning without exception. If you skip a day, you’ve just given the earwigs a comfortable daytime shelter and made the problem worse. Consistency matters more than the number of traps you set out. A handful of well-placed traps emptied daily will outperform a dozen neglected ones.
Reducing Earwig Habitat Around the Garden
Traps work best when you also reduce the hiding spots earwigs gravitate toward naturally. Stacks of pots, piles of leaf litter, dense ground cover, and boards left on the ground all create the dark, moist conditions earwigs love. Clearing these away forces earwigs to seek shelter in your traps instead.
Watering in the morning rather than the evening helps too, since it gives the soil surface time to dry before earwigs become active at night. Drip irrigation is better than overhead watering for the same reason: it keeps leaves and mulch drier. If you’re growing seedlings or soft fruit, these habitat adjustments paired with consistent trapping can keep earwig numbers low enough that you rarely see damage, all without chemicals.