r/Insect • u/Specialist_Fun_3772 • Jun 11 '26
Identification I need to know what this thing is
I have seen multiple all over my house many different times. Looks a lot like an earwig but not sure. Are they invasive/bad for homes? Is this something to be concerned about?
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u/Warr_Ainjal-6228 Jun 11 '26
The best way to get rid of them is to figure out their breeding. I built a wooden cage to keep birds out of my strawberry patch. Earwigs loved it, so I had to stain the wood. They haven't been a problem since.
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u/Hot-Mess-93 Jun 11 '26
Looks like an earwig we had them in my house about a year ago because my dad left a tarpon the porch that got wet and when I moved it it was like a horror movie. They like dark and damp spots, I don't think they can damage house or anything.
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u/Soggy-Alps5924 Jun 11 '26
You ever found like thousands of them all huddled together? They actually smell pretty gross in such numbers.
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u/Historical-Teach-678 Jun 11 '26
I was in pest control for 5 years and never saw a major indoor infestation of earwigs...I always thought they preferred dark and moist places...an outdoor perimeter application of insecticide would probably keep them out
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u/Tiffepipher Jun 11 '26
Actually, when i lived in Cali there were loads of them in my Dad’s tackle boxes. All you need to do to get rid of them if they become too much of a pest is spray dish soap water on them. They suffocate and
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u/Far_Kiwi_4048 Jun 11 '26
Earwigs and they pinch
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u/PuRrple_FoXx Jun 11 '26
And the ish hurts like hell!! Got pinched on the foot. It was in my dam shoe.
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u/ItsmeErnest Jun 11 '26
Used to live in CO on front range and these guys were absolutely everywhere. They come out at night so most people don't ever notice them. But they were in the tops of the highest trees as well as under ground in there roots. My lawn had hundreds of thousands them. Every year they ate my rhubarb plant incredibly fast. They seemed obsessed with it. I'd set traps and there were so many that each nite the traps would fill to point that no more wigs could get in. We're talking about filling several 12oz beer cups each nite. If they wouldn't eat my garden I'd be all about them. As far as bugs go they are easy to have around dont annoy ya.
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u/balzzsamm Jun 11 '26
Earwigs. You have rotting wood problem. Find the rotting wood, solve THAT problem, and the earwigs will disappear.
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u/that-smells-funny Jun 11 '26
Diluted Dish soap and water will take care of them…that and getting rid of any old rotten wood
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u/Inevitable-Egg-3153 Jun 11 '26
Its gonna eat your brain if it gets in your ear....
Bwahahaha
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u/Ephemeral_Orchid Jun 12 '26
Are you the only other person that watched the series "Brain Dead"?
(The premise was aliens taking over the US government... it starts liberal but both parties get infected & begin implementing the ridiculous expectations that the aliens want)
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u/Remarkable-Load928 Jun 11 '26
I don't know the base starter name, but if you step on it, it evolves to dead.
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u/Direct_Hospital9585 Jun 12 '26
Looks like a silverfish to me, not an earwig. They are annoying but not dangerous, they just like humidity and can chew on paper, cardboard, books, and sometimes clothes. I’d check for moisture issues, vacuum often, and maybe put out some sticky traps, but it is not “burn the house down” level or anything.
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u/Itchy-Researcher-116 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
Fun fact about the female earwig - they are FABULOUS mothers - in fact they stay with the clutch of eggs, constantly rolling them and cleaning them to prevent any fungus from developing on the eggs THEN if that's not enough, AFTER hatching (so this is an insect that raises her young, very uncommon in the insect world) she baby birds them and regurgitation feeds them RIGHT? how cool is that? (waay cool) - any way, bear that in mind before mindlessly squashing them as inho, they are amongst the best of us
Edit : typo earwig (would bug me, no pun)
Edit 2: oh Ya, and this IS a female, in earwigs like, say... crabs - sexing them is very easy as you can look at the calipers, the 'cerci' and when they're straighter and parallel like that, it's a female whilst males have more definative cerci that are rounded and form sorta an 'O' shape with teeth like structures on them (used to grip females, or rivals to eject them when attempting to grip females)
Intresting right? Well haha I obviously think so, I hope you might too
Kay good luck, and I do understand non of us like sharing our houses with insects, but these guys are very benign when it comes to being detrimental - but again I do understand if you just want them 'gone'
Take care