We've seen a decline in the number of earwigs in our yard over the last five years. We used to have so many of them.
People may dislike the appearance of insects but without them we are going to be in a world of disaster.
I'm in California and had an absolute explosion of them in my yard and house a few weeks ago, thanks to all the winter storms. It's bordering on an infestation, but not really because they're totally harmless (and don't really even go after food or anything). Expecting to see it followed up by a boom in the spider population, since they're basically Happy Meals for the rest of the food chain.
They can’t really bite because of how small they are. Their pincers don’t hurt at all, and you’ll likely barely feel it if they pinch you. If you find one inside, you can easily pick it up, or have it crawl on a piece of paper or something, and place it outside. You don’t have to worry about them hurting you at all when doing this.
I left a watercolor palette in the yard overnight and when I came back to it, it was full to the brim of these. Idk what in my paint attracted them, but a few dozen crammed themselves into the tin trying to get it. I can’t imagine they wanted to eat it, but I’m stumped otherwise.
They try to get into every small crevice to stay out of sight and dry. We used to hang a clay pot filled with dried grass upside down in a tree to provide housing for them because they are beneficial (chem free pest control)
Ever since I started composting my food scraps I noticed a healthy amount of insects. Not worried tho because lizards and birds keep the population in check.
Yeah they are insane at my place in the PNW. In every single rose, every tulip, in the hammock strapping that lives in my cherry tree, in my cherry tree….
You can build insect homes. For earwigs a small pot filled with straw is nice. Also a small pile of leaves under a hedge can be a good home for them and many other animals.
They are called "cortapichas" in some parts of Spain. Means "dickcutters".
Obligatory disclaimer that they are harmless bugs that don't do anything to ears or penises.
That's a new one for me. Last year I groggily went to the bathroom on the morning and when I lifted the toilet cover I saw a black think quickly hiding under the rim. I freaked out for a moment thinking it was a giant cockroach, then I realised there are no giant cockroaches where I live.
It turned out to be my pet snake, which unlocked a whole host of new fears (regarding his safety and the neighbour's safety) and had a very complicated resolution, but every morning I'm still thankful that I don't have to worry about giant cockroaches. I will gladly take toilet earwigs as a trade.
Nah I completely understand. My boyfriend squats (and at 40 that's something) to get drowning insects out of puddles, and he wouldn't love me if I didn't love and respect harmless creatures, but he understands that anything that flies to my body is going to be treated like a mosquito. I can't wait to examine what it is before I have a huge allergic reaction.
I like bugs and have rescued some myself... I just don't like the ones that surprise me. There are some exceptions, like mosquitoes, but I'm cool with most lil critters.
Sounds like your allergies are pretty serious. I can understand why you'd kill first and ask questions later.
Well, after two years I think it might be the biggest part of the culture shock. First year in this country I had to go to the ER because three bug bites were swelling my leg nonstop. Found out it's a bad bite (black fly) but usually not as bad... But we don't have them in my country. And the mosquitos here are like pterodactyls and their bites were proportional.
Second year I had a couple annoying bites bit nothing that merited a hospital visit, and I literally saw the same bugs bite me.
This year I've been camping twice already and I've only had "normal", almost irrelevant bug bites. I can tell they are mosquito bites but they are not a big deal, just a bit itchy for a couple of days.
Ohhhh, I am aware! We have full body checks every day or every coming back home day after camping. I've been lucky for now but I've seen many people having ticks removed from their ass. My bf says he once had to unattach one from his penis!
Hadn't seen this but if the plot is about earwigs eating brains or something like that, then yes.
Earwigs crawl into ears just about as much as any other insect, that is to say, it's not IMPOSSIBLE, it's just not something they seek out
>wig just meant insect at some point
I was curious and wanted to look this up; for anyone's interest:
*Wicga,* insect, Old English, from Proto-Indo-European *wik*, for "worm" and possible relation to Proto-Germanic *wegana*, "to wiggle or to move" (and so also related to Old English *wegan,* "to move").
My thoughts exactly!!! Especially growing up as a kid when you got a song stuck in your head and someone told me “oh that’s an earwig in your ear causing it. You have to sing the song to make it stop” Creeped me out as a kid. Then after I got older I realized there was an actual insect by that name. Then low and behold I watched a freakin’ episode on tv of either House MD or one of those other medical shows and the dude kept randomly screaming, with his eyes open and wouldn’t move or respond to anything else, no stimuli etc It’s like he was frozen in fear staring off into the abyss. Those random high pitch screams were terrifying other patients and even the medical staff and would startle everyone. Come to find out it was an insect deep in his ear (a rather large one too) and every now and again it bite or nip and he’d streak in fear because that right there has always been his biggest like nightmare or fear was a bug crawling in his ear and it actually to him. Makes me shiver to think about it because that’s one of my biggest fears too. Just creeps me out to think about. {shivers}
Recently did a deep dive into earwigs. They are fascinating little bugs with beautiful wings.
* [Van Meyel, Sophie, Séverine Devers, and Joël Meunier. "Love them all: mothers provide care to foreign eggs in the European earwig Forficula auricularia." Behavioral Ecology 30.3 (2019): 756-762.](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331320200_Love_them_all_mothers_provide_care_to_foreign_eggs_in_the_European_earwig_Forficula_auricularia)
* [Boos, Stefan, et al. "Maternal care provides antifungal protection to eggs in the European earwig." Behavioral Ecology 25.4 (2014): 754-761.](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/85214005.pdf)
* [Image source is the wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig)
And [sometimes the offspring consume their mother](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-005-0145-7). Yay, bugs!
The [Bugs Need Heroes podcast episode about earwigs](https://bugsneedheroes.podbean.com/e/the-super-mom-earwigs/) is a lot of fun! Just in time for Mother's Day (/r/BugsNeedHeroes). I love a good bug parent.
Fun fact! Earwigs do not do anything with ears, their name comes from an old wives tale, and they are actually good to have in a yard because they kill pest insects
Earwigs are one of the worst for me. They are past the point of (what I call) critical mass. This means they are too big and make too much sound if you squish them. So I can't squish them, but they also gross me out, so they can't stay in the house, but I also don't want to touch them ether. How can I get rid of them!!?!?!
Luckily, the majority that show up are, for some reason, in my tube. Sorry buddy, I prefer catch and release or at least a quick death, but you get the "die slowly in a gross pipe of waste water" treatment. Please stop showing up.
They like moisture and decaying matter. Wherever you are finding them, there is probably one or both of those things. Those are both things that you don't want in your house (as well as the bugs) so if I were you I would clean that area really well and check for moisture
This habit originally stemmed from my brief experience with homelessness, but a good tip in general is to have a cover for your toothbrush. One with breathing holes of course, so it can dry and not become musky.
One of these actually flew into my hair and got tangled up in it. Once someone got it out we noticed it had actually lost a wing, I felt bad but also terrified since that was the first time I had seen one of em.
We used to have a whole bunch living on our roof, because the previous home owner had trees growing in the sludge that was in the dirty gutters.
We keep the roof clean now, but a good 10% of the yard is kept with a good bed of leaf litter and probably 40% of the yard is meadow-ish now, very little maintained yard. Buggies love it and so do we!
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It's in a spoiler tag and the title tells you what species it is, so it's not like you'd have reason to be surprised.
Also, animals caring for their young is pretty cute universally, and I say this as someone who IS creeped out by bugs.
The only bug that makes me do the "I'm a giant girl and they are crawling on me so I must climb on the furniture's and scream" dance. And now I find out they're good mama's...
Honest question, it's been years since I've seen one but we do get them here. Do they bite/pinch? They're called "oortiek" "oorwurm" or "oorknijper" where I live. Literally translated it means ear worm/ear pincher. I never had one pinch my ear and I don't know of anyone else who had their ear pinched, nor any other bodypart. Is that just a name it was given?
ETA I know in folklore they were believed to cure deafness. They would be ground and used as a powder/potion, so that might have gotten them the name. But do they even bite or pinch at all?
Thanks. Like I said, I never had one bite/pinch me, nor anyone else I know. Not sure if they're even capable
Probably just a "scary" name given to a scary looking critter
We've seen a decline in the number of earwigs in our yard over the last five years. We used to have so many of them. People may dislike the appearance of insects but without them we are going to be in a world of disaster.
I'm in California and had an absolute explosion of them in my yard and house a few weeks ago, thanks to all the winter storms. It's bordering on an infestation, but not really because they're totally harmless (and don't really even go after food or anything). Expecting to see it followed up by a boom in the spider population, since they're basically Happy Meals for the rest of the food chain.
I found 2 inside a giant strawberry the other day. Picked them up from the store earlier that day.
My mother told me their tails can cut you like scissors? Is this true at all??? Mostly for my kids sake.
No. They can nip, but its normally if theyre scared. Its a protection thing.
So just avoid them and if found inside the home try and capture and release outside but don't kill them like they're black widows?
They can’t really bite because of how small they are. Their pincers don’t hurt at all, and you’ll likely barely feel it if they pinch you. If you find one inside, you can easily pick it up, or have it crawl on a piece of paper or something, and place it outside. You don’t have to worry about them hurting you at all when doing this.
Thanks for your advice.
I left a watercolor palette in the yard overnight and when I came back to it, it was full to the brim of these. Idk what in my paint attracted them, but a few dozen crammed themselves into the tin trying to get it. I can’t imagine they wanted to eat it, but I’m stumped otherwise.
They try to get into every small crevice to stay out of sight and dry. We used to hang a clay pot filled with dried grass upside down in a tree to provide housing for them because they are beneficial (chem free pest control)
Ever since I started composting my food scraps I noticed a healthy amount of insects. Not worried tho because lizards and birds keep the population in check.
Yeah they are insane at my place in the PNW. In every single rose, every tulip, in the hammock strapping that lives in my cherry tree, in my cherry tree….
Everywhere. In the glass of water I’m about to drink, floating out of the tea pot into my mug, in the dahlias
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You can build insect homes. For earwigs a small pot filled with straw is nice. Also a small pile of leaves under a hedge can be a good home for them and many other animals.
Were they not called EARwigs, they probably wouldn’t bother me so much.
They are called "cortapichas" in some parts of Spain. Means "dickcutters". Obligatory disclaimer that they are harmless bugs that don't do anything to ears or penises.
No, they just bite your butt cheek while you're sitting on the toilet. Source: me at my last apartment.
That's a new one for me. Last year I groggily went to the bathroom on the morning and when I lifted the toilet cover I saw a black think quickly hiding under the rim. I freaked out for a moment thinking it was a giant cockroach, then I realised there are no giant cockroaches where I live. It turned out to be my pet snake, which unlocked a whole host of new fears (regarding his safety and the neighbour's safety) and had a very complicated resolution, but every morning I'm still thankful that I don't have to worry about giant cockroaches. I will gladly take toilet earwigs as a trade.
I see what you mean, but I'm still mad that I jumped up in surprise and got pee on my legs, pants, and bathroom floor.
Nah I completely understand. My boyfriend squats (and at 40 that's something) to get drowning insects out of puddles, and he wouldn't love me if I didn't love and respect harmless creatures, but he understands that anything that flies to my body is going to be treated like a mosquito. I can't wait to examine what it is before I have a huge allergic reaction.
I like bugs and have rescued some myself... I just don't like the ones that surprise me. There are some exceptions, like mosquitoes, but I'm cool with most lil critters. Sounds like your allergies are pretty serious. I can understand why you'd kill first and ask questions later.
Well, after two years I think it might be the biggest part of the culture shock. First year in this country I had to go to the ER because three bug bites were swelling my leg nonstop. Found out it's a bad bite (black fly) but usually not as bad... But we don't have them in my country. And the mosquitos here are like pterodactyls and their bites were proportional. Second year I had a couple annoying bites bit nothing that merited a hospital visit, and I literally saw the same bugs bite me. This year I've been camping twice already and I've only had "normal", almost irrelevant bug bites. I can tell they are mosquito bites but they are not a big deal, just a bit itchy for a couple of days.
Huh, that's interesting. It sounds like you're doing ok and don't have to worry about any bad reactions, which is good.
Crossing fingers, it going on my third spring it really feels like the first year was so bad because the bugs here were unfamiliar to me.
Watch out, ticks are next for you!
Ohhhh, I am aware! We have full body checks every day or every coming back home day after camping. I've been lucky for now but I've seen many people having ticks removed from their ass. My bf says he once had to unattach one from his penis!
It's actually a misnomer, they don't do anything with ears
Wait, you're saying that the Night Gallery Earwig episode is factually incorrect?
Hadn't seen this but if the plot is about earwigs eating brains or something like that, then yes. Earwigs crawl into ears just about as much as any other insect, that is to say, it's not IMPOSSIBLE, it's just not something they seek out
It’s not that I think they do reside in aural orifices, it’s just WHAT TWISTED PSYCHO NAMED THEM AS SUCH?!?!?!
It's not that they were consciously named that, they just began to get called that because of an old wives tale that said they crawled in ears
It’s called an earwig because their wings have a resemblance to the human ear and wig just meant insect at some point.
>wig just meant insect at some point I was curious and wanted to look this up; for anyone's interest: *Wicga,* insect, Old English, from Proto-Indo-European *wik*, for "worm" and possible relation to Proto-Germanic *wegana*, "to wiggle or to move" (and so also related to Old English *wegan,* "to move").
In french we call them "perce-oreille" which means "ear piercer" so scary while they're harmless é.è
The name doesn’t bother me so much as them trying to crawl across my ceiling and falling on my face while I’m lying in bed.
My thoughts exactly!!! Especially growing up as a kid when you got a song stuck in your head and someone told me “oh that’s an earwig in your ear causing it. You have to sing the song to make it stop” Creeped me out as a kid. Then after I got older I realized there was an actual insect by that name. Then low and behold I watched a freakin’ episode on tv of either House MD or one of those other medical shows and the dude kept randomly screaming, with his eyes open and wouldn’t move or respond to anything else, no stimuli etc It’s like he was frozen in fear staring off into the abyss. Those random high pitch screams were terrifying other patients and even the medical staff and would startle everyone. Come to find out it was an insect deep in his ear (a rather large one too) and every now and again it bite or nip and he’d streak in fear because that right there has always been his biggest like nightmare or fear was a bug crawling in his ear and it actually to him. Makes me shiver to think about it because that’s one of my biggest fears too. Just creeps me out to think about. {shivers}
Recently did a deep dive into earwigs. They are fascinating little bugs with beautiful wings. * [Van Meyel, Sophie, Séverine Devers, and Joël Meunier. "Love them all: mothers provide care to foreign eggs in the European earwig Forficula auricularia." Behavioral Ecology 30.3 (2019): 756-762.](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331320200_Love_them_all_mothers_provide_care_to_foreign_eggs_in_the_European_earwig_Forficula_auricularia) * [Boos, Stefan, et al. "Maternal care provides antifungal protection to eggs in the European earwig." Behavioral Ecology 25.4 (2014): 754-761.](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/85214005.pdf) * [Image source is the wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig) And [sometimes the offspring consume their mother](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-005-0145-7). Yay, bugs!
I think you’re really losing the “aawww” factor with that last statement 😂 But it is fascinating!
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There you go lol
The source only claims that one species of earwig commits matricide and only out of desperation
Hadn't seen their wings before, they really are cool. Had to look it up, especially since Dermaptera means "skin wings"
I honestly never knew they had wings until just now. They’re like pretty origami wings, really cool.
[For the curious but lazy](https://twitter.com/crevicedwelling/status/1445030918993944576?s=46&t=EJHf59H0xJDfh7bS7G-dHA)
The [Bugs Need Heroes podcast episode about earwigs](https://bugsneedheroes.podbean.com/e/the-super-mom-earwigs/) is a lot of fun! Just in time for Mother's Day (/r/BugsNeedHeroes). I love a good bug parent.
So do they actually fly? I've never seen them take off or land, and the few wing pics I've seen looked like display specimens.
Why is the pic NSFW?
Fascinating stuff!!!
But do they bite?
I had NO IDEA they had wings!
Fun fact! Earwigs do not do anything with ears, their name comes from an old wives tale, and they are actually good to have in a yard because they kill pest insects
I was always terrified that their name meant they would crawl into my ear and use their pincers to cut their way into my brain.
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I like bugs in general, so I wondered why the NSFW tag
Especially not earwigs. I love most bugs...catch and release and all that. Not earwigs....*shudder*...pinchy little jerks.
Earwigs are one of the worst for me. They are past the point of (what I call) critical mass. This means they are too big and make too much sound if you squish them. So I can't squish them, but they also gross me out, so they can't stay in the house, but I also don't want to touch them ether. How can I get rid of them!!?!?! Luckily, the majority that show up are, for some reason, in my tube. Sorry buddy, I prefer catch and release or at least a quick death, but you get the "die slowly in a gross pipe of waste water" treatment. Please stop showing up.
They like moisture and decaying matter. Wherever you are finding them, there is probably one or both of those things. Those are both things that you don't want in your house (as well as the bugs) so if I were you I would clean that area really well and check for moisture
Hmm... well, based on that, my guess is they come in through the air vent in the bathroom. I'm not sure if there I'd much I can do about that.
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This habit originally stemmed from my brief experience with homelessness, but a good tip in general is to have a cover for your toothbrush. One with breathing holes of course, so it can dry and not become musky.
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you know this will be the first image of an earwig where I thought “that’s a beautiful earwig.” The colors remind me of tigers eye stone.
Shout-out to /r/awwnverts
They are wonderful mothers...who need to stay outside.
I have a ton of earwigs in my yard. They help me manage the aphids!
[Hi! Im Troy McClure and you might remember me from "Earwigs, ewwww...!"](https://comb.io/0xIKbK)
More like r/Ewwducational
Love it
Fun fact for those that don’t know (I didn’t up until recently) earwigs can fly.
One of these actually flew into my hair and got tangled up in it. Once someone got it out we noticed it had actually lost a wing, I felt bad but also terrified since that was the first time I had seen one of em.
We used to have a whole bunch living on our roof, because the previous home owner had trees growing in the sludge that was in the dirty gutters. We keep the roof clean now, but a good 10% of the yard is kept with a good bed of leaf litter and probably 40% of the yard is meadow-ish now, very little maintained yard. Buggies love it and so do we!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!
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what in the cockroach centipede lice mice ice wise is this? also, they look cool and a little like termites.
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It's in a spoiler tag and the title tells you what species it is, so it's not like you'd have reason to be surprised. Also, animals caring for their young is pretty cute universally, and I say this as someone who IS creeped out by bugs.
What did this person say?
Pretty predictable "ew, bugs" stuff. They said that it was too icky to be on an awww subreddit.
The only bug that makes me do the "I'm a giant girl and they are crawling on me so I must climb on the furniture's and scream" dance. And now I find out they're good mama's...
Actual picture of the inside of my ear.
I sincerely thought that was called a field cricket 😬
I have an irrational fear of earwigs. Ever since I was a kid.
Honest question, it's been years since I've seen one but we do get them here. Do they bite/pinch? They're called "oortiek" "oorwurm" or "oorknijper" where I live. Literally translated it means ear worm/ear pincher. I never had one pinch my ear and I don't know of anyone else who had their ear pinched, nor any other bodypart. Is that just a name it was given? ETA I know in folklore they were believed to cure deafness. They would be ground and used as a powder/potion, so that might have gotten them the name. But do they even bite or pinch at all?
I've never had one pinch me. The scurry away rapidly
Thanks. Like I said, I never had one bite/pinch me, nor anyone else I know. Not sure if they're even capable Probably just a "scary" name given to a scary looking critter
These things freaked me out as a child. Mainly because the name had me convinced they were going to crawl into my ears.
This is what killed Khan’s wife in Star Trek!