How to get rid of earwigs in the house: vacuum, dry out and seal

Step by step: how to get rid of earwigs in the house

1. 1

   Vacuum up the earwigs you can see

   Use the hose to pick up earwigs from floors, sinks, baseboards and window tracks. Empty the canister or bag into a sealed trash bag outside right away so they cannot crawl back out. Earwigs rarely breed indoors and die before long because there is little for them to eat.

2. 2

   Find the damp spots they are using

   Check the basement, laundry room, bathroom, under sinks and around door thresholds at night with a flashlight. Earwigs need moisture and cool, dark shelter. A leaking pipe, wet cardboard or a damp crawl space is often where they collect.

3. 3

   Dry the house out

   Fix plumbing leaks, run a dehumidifier in a damp basement, and vent the crawl space. Move cardboard boxes off basement floors and into plastic bins. Keep bath mats and laundry from sitting wet on the floor.

4. 4

   Clear a dry strip around the foundation

   Rake mulch, leaves, grass clippings and ground cover back from the walls, leaving a dry strip of at least several inches against the foundation. Move firewood, boards and stacked pots away from the house. Pull ivy off the walls.

5. 5

   Clean gutters and redirect water

   Scoop out wet leaves from the gutters, where earwigs shelter. Make sure downspouts carry water away from the foundation, and fix leaky outdoor spigots and AC condensate lines that keep soil wet next to the house.

6. 6

   Seal the ground-level gaps

   Caulk cracks in the foundation and gaps around pipes, dryer vents and window frames near the ground. Add door sweeps and weather stripping to exterior doors, especially basement and garage doors.

7. 7

   Swap porch lights for yellow bulbs

   Earwigs, like many night insects, gather around lights. Replace white bulbs by doors with yellow bug lights, and turn exterior lights off when you do not need them.

8. 8

   Trap the ones outside for a week

   Set rolled damp newspaper or corrugated cardboard near the foundation and garden beds at dusk. In the morning, shake the earwigs into a bucket of soapy water. A tuna can with 1/2 inch of vegetable oil and a drop of fish oil, sunk level with the soil, also works. Repeat every day until you stop catching them.

Why are earwigs coming into your house?

Earwigs come indoors when it is too hot, too dry or too cold outside, and they follow moisture. UC IPM notes that large numbers indoors are annoying but not a health hazard, and that they eventually die inside because there is little for them to eat.

NC State Extension describes them living in damp crawl spaces and basements, mulch, compost and wood piles, and migrating indoors during dry, hot weather. They are active at night and are drawn to lights. So when you find earwigs in a bathroom or basement, the cause is almost always outside the wall: wet soil, mulch, leaf-filled gutters and a bright porch light.

Do you need insecticide for earwigs?

Usually not inside. UC IPM says indoor pesticide treatments are not recommended because they do little to stop earwigs coming in; sweeping, vacuuming and sealing work better.

Outdoors, for a heavy problem, Clemson’s Home and Garden Information Center notes that insecticide dust lightly puffed into gaps you cannot caulk can kill earwigs as they try to enter. If you use any product, pick one labeled for earwigs, follow the label exactly, and keep children and pets off treated areas until the label says it is safe. A licensed pest control company can treat the perimeter if trapping and drying out have not helped after a few weeks.

Are earwigs dangerous?

No. Despite the pincers and the old myth, earwigs do not crawl into ears or attack people. They can give a mild pinch if trapped against your skin, and they can chew seedlings and soft fruit in the garden, but they also eat aphids.

• They do not damage the house, wood or food in a normal kitchen.
• They do not spread disease.
• One kind, the striped earwig, gives off a bad smell when crushed, which is one more reason to vacuum rather than squash.

If what you are seeing has six legs, no pincers and flies, it may be something else. Our guides to spiders and roaches cover other bugs that show up in damp basements.

Mistakes to avoid

• Spraying insecticide indoors, which kills a few but does nothing about why they are coming in.
• Leaving thick mulch piled right against the foundation.
• Vacuuming them up and leaving the canister full inside, so they crawl back out.
• Ignoring a damp basement or crawl space, which keeps drawing them in.
• Running bright white porch lights all night next to the door.