Have You Heard? It’s Earwig Season on Vancouver Island
- Donna M
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
If you’ve lifted a flowerpot, moved a damp piece of cardboard, or opened a shed and discovered a cluster of insects with intimidating pincers on their back ends, you’ve probably encountered earwigs.
Earwigs are a common pest on Vancouver Island, particularly during the warmer months. While they aren’t dangerous to people, large numbers can become a nuisance around homes and businesses and may cause damage to gardens, ornamental plants, vegetables, and fruit.
And if you’re noticing more earwigs right now in August, there’s a good reason: this is one of the times of year when earwig activity is particularly noticeable.
What Are Earwigs?
Earwigs are elongated, flattened insects that are usually dark brown to reddish-brown. Their most recognizable feature is the pair of forceps-like appendages, called cerci, at the end of their abdomen.
Those pincers can make earwigs look threatening, but they are primarily used for defence, capturing prey, and mating. Earwigs are not venomous and are not considered dangerous to humans.
One of the most common species encountered around homes and gardens in British Columbia is the European earwig (Forficula auricularia).
Despite the old myth behind their name, earwigs do not intentionally crawl into human ears. What they do like is darkness, moisture, shelter, and easy access to food—which explains why certain Vancouver Island properties can provide excellent earwig habitat.
Where Do Earwigs Like to Live?
Earwigs are primarily nocturnal, spending daylight hours hidden in protected spaces before becoming active at night.
Their ideal environment is dark, sheltered, and damp. Around Vancouver Island homes and businesses, earwigs may hide:
Under rocks, logs, boards, and landscape timbers
Beneath flowerpots and outdoor containers
In mulch, leaf litter, and garden debris
Under loose bark
Beneath patio furniture or stored materials
Around compost piles
Inside cracks and gaps around buildings
In damp basements, garages, sheds, and crawl spaces
Vancouver Island's relatively mild climate and abundance of lush vegetation can provide plenty of suitable earwig habitat.
Properties with dense landscaping, heavy ground cover, accumulated organic debris, or consistently damp areas may be particularly attractive. Earwigs generally prefer moisture and shelter and tend to avoid exposed, hot, dry areas.
What Do Earwigs Eat?
Earwigs are omnivores, which means their menu is surprisingly broad.
They feed on decaying plant material and other organic matter, but they also eat living plants and small insects. Their diet can include aphids and other small insects, insect eggs, dead insects, algae, fungi, flowers, leaves, seedlings, vegetables, and soft or ripening fruit.
That means earwigs aren't always the villains of the garden. Their appetite for aphids and other small pests can actually make them beneficial in some circumstances.
Problems arise when populations become large enough that earwigs begin feeding heavily on desirable plants—or when they decide that the sheltered environment around your building is an ideal place to congregate.
Signs You May Have an Earwig Problem
Seeing an occasional earwig outdoors doesn't necessarily indicate a pest problem. They're common insects and are naturally present in the environment.
However, frequent sightings or large numbers can indicate that conditions around your property are supporting a substantial population.
Watch for earwigs gathering beneath pots, mats, boards, boxes, or other objects that sit against damp surfaces. You may also notice them around exterior doors, foundations, garages, sheds, patios, gardens, and landscaped areas.
Because earwigs are nocturnal, you might not see much activity during the day. Checking affected areas after dark with a flashlight can reveal considerably more activity.
Indoors, earwigs are generally an invading nuisance pest rather than an insect that wants to establish itself in your living or working space. Repeated indoor sightings may indicate that earwigs are finding entry points around doors, windows, foundations, utility penetrations, or
other gaps.
What Kind of Damage Can Earwigs Cause?
Earwig feeding damage is most noticeable in gardens.
They can chew irregular holes in leaves and flowers, sometimes giving foliage a ragged appearance. Seedlings and tender young plants can be particularly susceptible.
Earwigs may also feed on vegetables and soft fruit, including fruit that is already damaged or beginning to ripen. In ornamental gardens, they can damage flowers and new plant growth.
However, it's worth remembering that earwigs aren't responsible for every mysterious hole in the garden. Slugs, caterpillars, beetles, and other pests can create similar symptoms.
For businesses, earwigs can present a different problem. Even when they aren't causing structural damage, customers don't necessarily distinguish between a harmless nuisance insect and a serious pest. Frequent insects around entrances, patios, storage areas, or other customer-facing spaces can quickly become an image and sanitation concern.
The Earwig Life Cycle on Vancouver Island
Understanding the earwig life cycle helps explain why their numbers seem to change dramatically throughout the year.
Earwigs typically have one generation per year in cooler climates.
As temperatures drop, adult earwigs seek protected locations to overwinter. Females create small nests or chambers in the soil where they lay eggs. Earwigs are unusual among insects because the female actually provides maternal care, guarding and tending her eggs.
As temperatures warm in spring, the eggs hatch and young earwigs, called nymphs, begin developing. Nymphs resemble miniature adults but are smaller and pass through several developmental stages before reaching maturity.
Through late spring and early summer, these young earwigs grow and become increasingly active. As summer progresses, more reach adulthood and disperse in search of food, moisture, and shelter.
Why Are There So Many Earwigs in August?
By August on Vancouver Island, many of the earwigs that developed earlier in the season have reached or are approaching adulthood. Warm summer conditions also mean plenty of nighttime activity.
This is when homeowners and businesses may suddenly notice earwigs gathering under outdoor objects, appearing around patios and gardens, or occasionally wandering indoors.
August can also bring stretches of dry weather. Because earwigs depend on protected environments with adequate moisture, dry conditions can concentrate them around irrigated gardens, damp landscaping, shaded foundations, leaking outdoor taps, and other moisture sources.
As summer eventually transitions into fall and temperatures decline, earwigs begin moving toward protected overwintering locations and the annual cycle starts again.
How Can You Make Your Property Less Attractive to Earwigs?
Reducing moisture and hiding places around a building can make a significant difference.
Clear unnecessary boards, cardboard, leaf piles, and garden debris from around foundations. Avoid excessive moisture next to the building, correct leaking outdoor taps or drainage issues, and consider whether dense mulch or vegetation is creating consistently damp hiding places.
Sealing gaps around exterior doors, windows, siding, utility penetrations, and foundations can also help prevent wandering earwigs from making their way indoors.
When earwig numbers become difficult to manage, professional pest management such as Sentry Pest Control can help identify where they are harbouring and why your property is attracting them.
Dealing With Earwigs on Vancouver Island?
A few earwigs in the garden are usually nothing to worry about. When you're finding them in large numbers, repeatedly indoors, or throughout areas of your property, it's worth investigating the conditions that are allowing the population to thrive.
At Sentry Pest Control, we understand the pest pressures that come with living and doing business on Vancouver Island. Identifying harbourage areas, moisture sources, and potential entry points can help address an earwig problem while reducing the conditions that encourage them to return.
If earwigs have become unwelcome guests around your Vancouver Island home or business, contact Sentry Pest Control for professional earwig control.
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