The fastest way to get rid of earwigs is to remove the moisture and shelter they depend on, then trap or kill the ones that remain. Earwigs are moisture-loving insects that feed at night and hide during the day in dark, cool, damp spots. They aren’t dangerous to people, but they can damage garden plants and become a nuisance indoors. A combination of habitat cleanup, simple traps, and targeted barriers will clear most infestations within a week or two.
Why Earwigs Are in Your Yard (and Your House)
Earwigs need three things: moisture, darkness, and organic material to eat. During the day they tuck themselves under loose soil, boards, mulch, dense ground cover, leaf litter, woodpiles, newspapers, flowerpots, and debris along foundations. At night they emerge to feed on a mix of living and dead organisms, including other insects, plant shoots, and soft fruit like strawberries, raspberries, and apricots. They also eat flowers (zinnias, marigolds, and dahlias are favorites) and can damage corn by feeding on the silks and preventing pollination.
They move indoors when outdoor conditions become too dry, too hot, or too cold. In arid climates, earwigs wouldn’t survive at all without the moisture and shade that irrigated gardens provide. If you’re finding them inside, it almost always means there’s a damp, cluttered harborage right next to your home’s exterior. Leaves packed in gutters, stacked firewood against the siding, or thick ivy climbing the wall are common culprits. White outdoor lights also draw them in at night.
Start by Removing Their Hiding Spots
No trap or spray will keep earwigs away long-term if your yard is full of the conditions they love. This cleanup step does more than anything else:
- Clear debris near the foundation. Move woodpiles, leaf litter, stacked newspapers, boxes, and boards at least several feet from the house. Clean leaves out of gutters.
- Thin dense vegetation. Prune ground cover, ivy, weeds, and vine undergrowth around garden beds. Remove fruit tree suckers.
- Reduce moisture. Fix leaky faucets and hose bibs. Avoid overwatering garden beds near the house. Let the soil surface dry between waterings when possible.
- Pull back mulch. Bark mulch holds moisture right at soil level, which is exactly the environment earwigs seek. Reduce the layer thickness or leave a dry gap between mulch and your home’s foundation.
- Switch outdoor lights. Replace white bulbs near doors and windows with yellow bulbs, which are far less attractive to earwigs and many other night-flying insects.
How to Trap Earwigs Effectively
Oil-based traps are one of the most reliable DIY methods. Earwigs are strongly attracted to fish oil and other food-grade oils, and once they crawl in, the oil film prevents them from escaping.
Soy Sauce and Oil Trap
Fill a small container (a yogurt cup, tuna tin, or small jar) about one-third full with water. Add two tablespoons of soy sauce, then pour in enough vegetable oil to form a thin layer across the surface. Bury the container in the soil so the rim sits just slightly above ground level. This keeps surrounding dirt from falling in and clogging the trap. Cover the top with a plastic lid or plant pot saucer propped up on four small stones, leaving a gap around the edges for earwigs to crawl under. The cover also keeps rain from flooding and washing out your bait.
Place these traps near woodpiles, rock borders, garden debris, or beds where you’ve noticed plant damage. Leave them in place for a few days and they’ll fill with earwigs. Refresh the liquid when it gets full or after heavy rain. You can also substitute tuna fish oil or vegetable oil with a drop of bacon grease, both of which earwigs find highly attractive.
Rolled Newspaper Trap
Loosely roll up a section of damp newspaper and set it near garden beds in the evening. Earwigs will crawl inside overnight looking for a dark, moist hiding spot. In the morning, pick up the roll and shake it out into a bucket of soapy water, or seal it in a bag and toss it.
Using Diatomaceous Earth as a Barrier
Food-grade diatomaceous earth is a fine powder made from fossilized algae. It works by damaging the thin, waxy coating on an insect’s body, causing the earwig to dry out and die. It’s not harmful to pets or people.
Sprinkle a light line of it around the base of plants that earwigs are damaging, along foundation edges, and across thresholds where they enter the house. The key limitation: once diatomaceous earth gets wet, it stops working. You’ll need to reapply after rain or watering. In garden beds that get irrigated regularly, it works best as a nighttime barrier applied in the evening after your last watering and refreshed as needed.
Keeping Earwigs Out of Your Home
Earwigs don’t breed indoors or infest your house the way ants or cockroaches do. They wander in through gaps and cracks, typically ground-level entry points. Seal cracks in your foundation, replace worn door sweeps and weatherstripping, and make sure window screens are intact. Pay attention to where pipes and wires enter the house, as these small openings are easy entry routes.
If you’re finding earwigs inside regularly, the real fix is outdoors. Address the moisture, debris, and lighting issues near your exterior walls, and indoor sightings will drop off. For the few that do get in, a vacuum cleaner is the simplest solution. There’s no nest inside your walls to worry about.
Protecting Garden Plants
Earwig damage can look similar to slug or snail damage: ragged holes in leaves, chewed seedlings, and gouged soft fruit. The difference is that earwigs rarely leave a slime trail. If you’re finding irregular holes in young plants overnight but no slime, earwigs are a strong suspect. Go out with a flashlight after dark to confirm, since that’s when they’re actively feeding.
Seedlings are the most vulnerable. Earwigs can destroy young vegetable starts quickly, and they’ll tunnel into soft fruit that’s already been nicked by birds or other pests. Place oil traps directly in beds with new transplants. Diatomaceous earth around the base of seedlings adds another layer of protection on dry nights. For corn, timing matters: earwigs feeding on silks during pollination can lead to poorly filled ears, so trapping early in the season before silks emerge gives you the best results.
It’s worth noting that earwigs aren’t purely destructive in the garden. They’re voracious predators of aphids, insect eggs, and other soft-bodied pests. If you’re seeing earwigs in a part of your yard where plants aren’t being damaged, they may actually be helping keep other pest populations in check. The goal is managing their numbers in the areas where they cause problems, not necessarily eliminating every earwig on your property.
Are Earwigs Dangerous?
No. Despite the old myth, earwigs do not crawl into your ears to lay eggs in your brain. They have no interest in entering the human ear, though very rare cases of one being found in an ear canal have been documented (as with just about any small insect). Their pincers look intimidating, but earwigs use them for defense against other animals and to catch prey. If you pick one up, it could pinch you, and it might sting briefly, but the pincers carry no venom. Earwigs don’t spread disease.