Why do earwigs live in roses? I always remove at least one 'wig off each rose prior to bringing in the rose.

Question

I learned to carefully check each rose that I cut - either bud or flowered - before arranging them in a vase. It's really weird; the 'wigs really love to live in the roses, between the petals. I know 'wigs are harmless, but UGH! Talk about beauty and the beast! lol.

Answer 1

Earwigs (OrderDermaptera) are nocturnal and communal creatures; they gather during the day in moist, dark, tight hiding places (sometimes, unfortunately, those are in your rose blooms) - you may see them in large numbers under rocks or stones. The adult female earwig lays her eggs in masses in burrows in protected places and carefully guards them until they hatch.

Control of these creatures is not easy, and you need to decide if you can tolerate the bit of damage they do in exchange for their potentially beneficial role. If you are concerned about the appearance of your flowers, the best control is keeping plants strong and healthy enough to withstand a little nibbling. Good garden sanitation is also important in order to remove hiding places. Baits are available that contain carbaryl, the active ingredient in Sevin®, and these are reasonably effective. Barrier sprays of long residual insecticides such as chlorpyriphos (Dursban®) help keep earwigs out of the house and roses.

If you want to simply trap them, place hollow pieces of bamboo, a length of old garden hose, or rolled up newspapers on shaded, moist soil – they will seek shelter in these so that you can simply toss them into a bucket of water and drown them, or dispose in a garbage can sitting in bright sunlight. Alternatively, shallow containers filled with vegetable oil or soapy water can be buried up to their rim in your garden, where earwigs, and probably the odd slug or other bug will drown in the liquid.

Keep in mind the beneficial predatory role earwigs can play in the garden, and make an effort to reduce their numbers only when nighttime checks definitely show them to be causing intolerable damage to your plants.