How To Deal With Earwig in Your Irish Garden
What is Earwig?
Earwigs are familiar insects in Irish gardens, easily recognised by the curved pincers (cerci) at the tail end of their elongated brown bodies. Despite their alarming appearance, earwigs are largely beneficial insects that feed on aphids and other small pests. However, they can become a nuisance when they feed on the petals of dahlias, chrysanthemums, clematis and other ornamental flowers, particularly in late summer. Earwigs are nocturnal, hiding in dark, confined spaces during the day and emerging at night to feed. They are attracted to sweet, ripening fruit and the soft petals of double-flowered varieties. A single garden can harbour large populations without the gardener being aware of their presence.
Damage Caused by Earwig
Earwigs chew irregular holes and ragged edges in flower petals, giving blooms a tatty, damaged appearance. Dahlias and chrysanthemums are the plants most commonly affected, particularly double-flowered varieties where earwigs hide deep within the blooms. They also damage clematis flowers, sweet peas and occasionally strawberry fruits and young seedlings. Despite the old wives' tale, earwigs do not crawl into human ears. Their impact on vegetable crops is minimal, and they provide a net benefit in most gardens by consuming aphids and other small pests.
How to Prevent Earwig
Keep the garden tidy to reduce daytime hiding spots. Avoid dense mulches right up against susceptible plants. If growing dahlias for exhibition, trap earwigs rather than trying to eliminate them from the garden entirely. Stake dahlia plants and apply a band of petroleum jelly around the stem below the first branches to prevent earwigs climbing up. Accept that some minor earwig damage to flowers is inevitable and largely cosmetic.
How to Treat Earwig
Make earwig traps by stuffing straw or crumpled newspaper into upturned flower pots placed on canes among dahlia and chrysanthemum plants. Earwigs crawl in during the day to hide and can be tapped out into a bucket of soapy water each morning. Alternatively, place short lengths of bamboo cane or corrugated cardboard rolls among plants. For exhibition dahlias, invert a pot of straw on a cane above each bloom — earwigs are attracted into the straw rather than the flower. Chemical control is rarely justified.
Earwig in Ireland
Earwigs are common throughout Ireland and are generally considered beneficial garden insects. They become problematic mainly for dahlia and chrysanthemum growers, particularly those exhibiting at flower shows. The mild, damp Irish climate suits earwig populations well. Irish dahlia societies regularly discuss earwig management at meetings. In most Irish gardens, earwigs should be tolerated as they consume far more aphids and small pests than flowers. The European earwig (Forficula auricularia) is the only species commonly encountered.
Plants Affected by Earwig
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