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Females lay 50-90 shiny white eggs in a chamber
in the ground in the fall. Earwigs may dig as deep as six feet below ground to
escape the cold temperatures. They hibernate through the winter in this nest
and in the spring attend the first instar nymphs, providing them with food. The
young
earwigs resemble their parents, but are lighter in color, lack wings and
have tiny pinchers. The females generally die before midsummer, by which
time
the young have left the nest, so numbers tend to decline by August. The young
become adults between late August and early October, when
new male and female
pairs enter the soil to construct their nests. Rich garden soil with a southern
exposure is a favorite place for earwigs to lay their
eggs. Moist summers tend
to favor higher populations. Earwigs feed primarily at night. During the day
they hide in dark, moist places such as cracks
or crevices, or beneath stones,
boards, or debris on the soil surface. They can be found hiding in garden
plants, shrubbery, along fences, in woodpiles,
at the base of trees, and behind loose boards on buildings. Mulch in flower beds and around trees and shrubs are also great habitats for earwigs |
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1 (800) PEST 990 | 3958 Valley Avenue, Suite D, Pleasanton, CA 94566 |
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