- 1). Check for earwig injury in the garden. You may see irregular holes or indentations around the edges of leaves. You may also see webbing on plants. Earwigs usually attack soft fruits, such as strawberries, while leaving hard fruits, such as apples, alone.
- 2). Create an earwig trap from household items. You can use a cat food or tuna fish can and add 1/2 inch of fish oil at the bottom to attract earwigs. Alternatively, you can simply roll up a piece of newspaper or corrugated cardboard and secure it with a rubber band. You can also use a hollow tube of bamboo or a short piece of hose. These items attract earwigs because they like hiding in small, dark areas.
- 3). Place the traps on the soil near affected plants just before dark.
- 4). Mix 1 cup of dishwashing liquid and 1 gallon of water in a bucket.
- 5). Check the traps every morning and dump all the caught earwigs into the soapy water to kill them. Set the traps again in the evening.
- 6). Remove the debris that earwigs can use to hide, including weeds, piles of rubbish and leaves.
- 7). Scrape of the loose bark on the lower trunks of older fruit trees so earwigs don't hide in it. Smear a sticky insect trapping substance, such as Tanglefoot, on the trunks. This substance traps earwigs and prevents them from climbing up fruit trees.
- 8). Vacuum earwigs if you see them indoors, crush them and dispose of them outside.
- 9). Apply an insecticide late in the day to kill earwigs. You can use insecticides that contain bifenthrin, carbaryl, deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin or permethrin as the active ingredient. These insecticides may come as sprays that you can apply to your gardens, building foundations or other hiding areas.
- 10
Spread poisoned baits that contain carbaryl as the active ingredient around the base of affected plants.
Source...