Where do Earwigs live?

Where do Earwigs live?
Earwigs live outside of the home in moist areas where they have cover from the elements. They will live readily under yard debris, old boxes that are in contact with the soil, firewood piles, flower pots, tarps, children’s toys, trash cans, piles of lumber, or anything else that is left in contact with the soil for an extended period. Although you may see them inside, they can’t usually survive for more than a couple of days indoors. Populations can be reduced by trimming trees and shrubs off the ground and away from the structure. Dense ground covers should be thinned out and or removed. Opening up the soil and allowing it to dry is going to make it difficult for the earwigs to survive. There are some species of earwigs that can fly fairly well and are attracted to lights left on at night. You can reduce the possibility of attracting these species by changing the bulbs to yellow instead of white or clear. This will help to reduce not only the earwigs, but many other types of insects that are attracted to the lights. Most chemicals if applied to piles of debris around the yard will be soaked up by the piles and never make it to the ground, thus causing the chemical to not work effectively. What you want is to get the earwigs and the material of choice in the same place for a long enough period to get the material into the bugs and kill them. An earwig can be fairly active insects and for them to move quickly across a treated surface might not be ample time for them to pick up enough material to get the job done. It is a better idea to remove all harborage areas and then treat where and as…