Pest Management Professional, September 2018
Earwig invasion A cabin in the woods had thousands of uninvited house guests I n 2006 the Smiths not their real name a retired couple built a beautiful log cabin vacation home at the top of a mountain with gorgeous views of the Blue Ridge Mountains One late spring day soon after the home was built they were sitting on their deck enjoying the view when they noticed a swarm of insects rising from the surrounding treetops They watched this swirling mass of insects as it moved overhead Then they started hearing the ticks as the insects fell from the sky and landed on the metal roof of their home It sounded like rain as the number of falling insects increased landing on the roof the deck and on them They recognized the insects were earwigs and they quickly went inside The days that followed turned their dream home into a nightmare Thousands of earwigs began working their way into the house pouring in from every crack and crevice they could squeeze into They began falling from the ceiling and walls from the natural cracks in the wood logs and the hardwood floors were covered with earwigs running about Every couple of At right earwigs littered the floor in every room of the log home which is similar days the Smiths would sweep and suck up the earwigs with a wet dry vacuum which had to be emptied regularly because it would become full to the one depicted above The earwigs finally died off over the winter The following spring however they came back with a vengeance UNFAVORABLE CONDITIONS When I heard about what was happening I had to see it for myself I had never heard or read about earwigs swarming like termites They have wings the flight wings are folded underneath the short forewings which act as protected covers but rarely if ever fly I have observed a few earwigs flying about porch lights at night but never swarming en masse during the day This is another odd detail since earwigs are mostly active at night Earwigs also prefer to be in moist or humid habitats such as under mulch pine straw leaf litter or in rotten logs There they feed on organic matter small insects such as springtails and sometimes plants The conditions inside the Smiths home were far from favorable for them It was not moist or humid nor was there an abundance of food I arrived at the house just after a fresh swarm Even with what I had been told I could not believe what I was seeing It was reminiscent of a horror flick where the walls were crawling with creatures We began our tour by walking around the outside of the house I was in awe as I watched thousands of earwigs running up and down the outside walls crawling on the ground and By Kevin Hathorne BCE PMP Contributor PHOTOS ISTOCK COM GIVAGA KEVIN HATHORNE PEST SPOTLIGHT EARWIGS CONTINUED ON PAGE 88 86 September 2018 Pest Management Professional mypmp net
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