There are a number of different earwigs. I think the problem one is an import.
They have a very interesting habit that makes then suited to low technology trapping. They are largely nocturnal and like to rest in a cool dark place during the heat of the day, as now.
They like to go into a low space and like to put their head into where there is pressure down from above and the floor. Thus if you get two bits of say old flooring board, say six inches (150 ml) by three quarters of an inch (18 ml), say two feet (600 ml) long. The trick is to hinge them, so that one long side is touching and the other is say a quarter inch (6 ml) apart, thus forming a narrow wedge shaped space. Some car tube or like rubber and a few nails and a bit if improvisation will do it. If the weather is really hot, give it a spray down with water the day before to make it dampish and cool, if very hot, have it in the shade.
In the early morning, the earwigs will go into the space, until they have their heads in the narrow space. When you get out and about, step on each trap in a manner to close the gap and squash the earwigs. Take a bucket with you and an old paint brush and brush them into the bucket and reset the trap. If you do not kill them all. Have some water in the bucket with a couple of drops of biodegradable detergent in it. They will soon drown. When they are all dead, put in the compost heap.
Lots of earwigs can be an indicator that you may not have a really active soil biota system, as if the dead vegetative material is being broken down quickly enough, there should not be enough waste to allow a population to build up.
Gil
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Would somebody have a good idea about control of earwigs in lettuce and other vegetables ?
Up until now I thought earwigs are good predators of other insects , we used to nurture them back in Germany in orchards .
Here they can do quite a bit of damage to full grown vegies and just emerging crops.
Thank's for good ideas!
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