The Earwig is about ½ to ¾ inch long, and is quite common throughout Southern California. The life cycle of an earwig is egg-nymph-adult. Earwigs lay dozens of eggs in clusters which hatch in 1-2 months. The adult lives throughout the year. The female mothers her young until they are strong enough to fend for themselves.

European earwigs are a predator insect, eating other insects like a "good" little bug. They hold their prey with their pinchers and chomp away. When the earwigs came to California they changed just like so many people who come here. They became health concious, changed to vegetarians, and began eating our plants. They may still eat other bugs sometimes, but homeowners usually see the damage they cause to plants. They eat round and jagged holes in the leaves of plants, damaging the flowers and seeds. They're not even very picky about choosing just the young tender ones.

If you would like to see if any are about, just fold a piece of cardboard and place it next to the foundation of your home or garage. Wet it and leave it there for two days. If there are any earwigs around, they will flock to it. If a problem with these pests exists they can usually be found under doormats beneath the bark of trees, in the garden hose, under almost everything in the yard and, of course, in the wheels and tracks of your sliding glass doors.

Corky's Pest Control while performing regularly scheduled services on your property, manages most pest problems. If you have a specific problem with a pest, call one of our customer service representatives for information on how we can help.