Common earwig: description, photo, how dangerous and how to get rid

The ordinary earwig belongs to the number of insects capable of causing considerable damage to agricultural and horticultural plants. After reading today's article, you will find out what this pest looks like and how to deal with it.

Brief description of the species

The earwig belongs to the detachment of the skin of the wing, the main feature of which is the absence of the pupal stage. This insect has a small body, the length of which is about two centimeters. Although in nature there are specimens grown to 8 cm.

The entire body of the earwig, the photo of which can be seen in today's article, consists of shiny segments, painted in a brownish hue. This insect has two tails that visually resemble small swords. The role of the eyes they perform the organs of touch, and specifically - the mustache.

Since this pest has short wings, it flies only in an upright position, not rising high above the ground. This insect is moved by means of small numerous legs.

Habitat and Lifestyle

The earwig is an insect that occurs mainly in the countryside. It lives in orchards, gardens and houses with a high level of humidity. In addition, it can settle in bathrooms, basements and other poorly ventilated rooms.

To prevent that these small unpleasant neighbors appear in your house, you must keep your home in order, without forgetting to regularly ventilate it. On the street, the earwig can often be seen near water bodies, under rocks and on wet leaves of plants.

The earwig, whose photo can be found in this publication, prefers to lead a nocturnal life. It begins to show activity with the onset of twilight. In the afternoon she tries to sit out in a dark, damp place. These insects live in groups. Therefore, there can be a lot of them in the marshland.

Eating ear wigs vegetable food. They eat algae, mycelium, leaves, flowers, fruits and vegetables. In addition, they can eat bread crumbs and other remains of human food.

Reproduction

The ordinary earwig starts to grow in the late summer. After pairing, which lasts for several hours, the female begins to prepare a nest, which looks like a straight mink about eight centimeters long.

After a few days, she lays eggs and collects them in one big pile. The female covers them with the front part of her own body. She remains in the hole for the next five or six weeks until the larvae hatch from the eggs. Earwigs zealously protect their offspring not only from enemies, but also from their relatives. In addition, the female constantly moistens eggs with saliva so that mold does not begin to form on them.

The larvae emerging from them immediately creep through their shelters. Outwardly they are very similar to adults. For the remaining warm days they manage to grow enough to calmly overwinter. And next year they will be capable of breeding their own offspring.

What are dangerous earwigs for humans and plants?

Our distant ancestors were confident that during the bite this insect secretes a poisonous substance that causes instant death. In fact, this is an erroneous statement. Earwigs are not among the poisonous pests. The substance released by them has a sharp specific smell. It is intended solely to scare away your natural enemies.

Defending themselves from danger, these insects can actually bite the enemy. For an adult, this will not have any consequences, but the child may feel some discomfort. In people prone to allergies, the bite of the ordinary earwig causes reddening of the skin, swelling and puffiness. Sometimes in this place there are blisters that resemble herpes.

As for green plantations, these insects cause the greatest harm to dahlias and chrysanthemums. These flowers are the favorite food of earwigs. In addition, these insects can attack bees and eat the pollen collected by them.

Use of earwig

In fact, these insects not only harm farmers, but also help them. Therefore, you should not rush to destroy these pests. The ordinary earworm eats caterpillars, aphids and spider mites. In addition, it helps to free the site from flies, slugs, larvae, decaying and fallen fruit.

From this we can conclude that you do not need to fight with a small population of earwigs. Take measures aimed at their destruction, it is advisable only when their number begins to increase sharply.

How to get rid of an ordinary earwig?

One of the simplest methods of destroying these insects are traps. If you need to quickly get rid of pests, you need to place around the seedlings wet rags. As soon as the earwigs slide on them, the pieces of cloth are removed and poured with boiling water.

In addition, as a bait, you can use bran or boiled egg yolk. They add boric acid or any chemical insecticide.

No less effective is the repelling of insects. For these purposes, usually use special chalks with a special smell, causing pests to leave the greenhouse or apartment. Some people, wishing to get rid of earwigs, place around the room containers filled with basil. The spicy aroma of this plant also repels the earwig.

It is possible to fight pests with the help of chemicals. For this, seedlings are sprayed with such drugs as "Iskra" or "Inta-vir".

Preventive measures

To ensure that your house does not have earwigs, you need to destroy all possible ways of getting these insects into living quarters. In addition, you need to ensure that the apartment does not have a permanent source of moisture. All cranes and pipes are checked for leaks, and if any, they are immediately eliminated. Also, experts recommend to constantly monitor the level of humidity in living quarters. Plus, everything in the house should not be littered with places where unnecessary things accumulate. This requires regular cleaning.

To earwigs do not settle in your greenhouses, they should be regularly ventilated and released from the grass. It is extremely important to observe the regime of watering plants, without flooding them. Irrigate plantations are better in the morning, so that by the evening the top layer of the soil has dried up.

Regular loosening of the soil not only saturates it with oxygen, but also prevents waterlogging. All this will reduce the risk of earwigs. An important role is played by systematic weeding of the site, observance of recommended planting schemes and timely cleaning of debris and plant residues.