Pest Management Professional, September 2018

PEST SPOTLIGHT EARWIGS running up and down nearby trees Next to the foundation were piles of dead earwigs heaped up like mounds of dirt which accumulated as a result of the numerous insecticide applications I didnt say much other than Wow this is insane Inside Mrs Smith had already swept the floors in the family room that morning but there were still hundreds of earwigs running around and falling out of the cracks in the walls She led us to the upstairs bedrooms where she had not had a chance to sweep and vacuum yet The floors in each bedroom were literally covered with earwigs As we walked around they would crunch under our shoes and the floors would become slick to walk on from all of the crushed earwigs I said to Mrs Smith You are very tolerant and patient If this was my house my wife would have burned it down by now She explained that she probably is more tolerant than most people but the whole ordeal had been extremely frustrating I told her we would continue to do everything possible to get this under control I really felt bad for them and I really wanted to figure out what was going on MORE QUESTIONS I visited the house a few more times over the next couple of years I always left with more questions I sent samples to Clemson University to confirm that they were European earwigs Forficula auricularia During my visits I tried to find where they were breeding I knew they werent breeding inside the house I never found eggs or nymphs There was some mulch around the house but not an excessive amount I searched in several places under the mulch but never found earwigs living there That was strange because it was one place you would expect to find them The house was surrounded by forested areas In these surrounding woods were several old dead trees some still standing When the bark was peeled from these standing dead trees earwigs would pour out like a waterfall The standing dead trees were full of earwigs but there were very few in and around the logs on the ground where you would expect to find them Only adults were found no eggs or nymphs The farther into the woods I went in search of earwigs the fewer I could find It seemed as if the house was the central gathering points for the earwigs and the closer you got the more earwigs there were Even other houses in the neighborhood did not have earwig problems After all my investigations I could not find one breeding site During my visits I would also apply treatments recommended by industry reps and distributors I tried a variety of baits but the earwigs would not touch them They were not eating and they werent breeding so why were they there and why werent other homes in the area being affected The swarms began shortly after the house was built It has been found that earwigs do have an aggregation pheromone The logs were purchased from a popular log home dealership and the wood stain was a commonly used brand If there were some kind of earwig attractant or aggregation pheromone mimic in the chemicals used to treat the logs or in the stain wouldnt there be more occurrences of earwig infestations in the homes that have used these products Thinking that the attractiveness of the house might have something to do with the wood stain that was used I advised the Smiths to re stain the house with a different product Not only did they re stain the house they also worked feverishly to caulk and seal as many entryways as possible This was a daunting task for a log home UNSOLVED MYSTERY The next spring arrived and we treated the house thoroughly with repellent insecticides in anticipation of the swarms Then we waited Amazingly the swarms did not come In fact over the summer only a handful of earwigs were seen Did we figure it out Was it indeed something to do with the wood stain that was originally used We became hopeful Later that summer a tornado came through the area and caused some damage to the house along with a few downed trees The Smiths took this opportunity to eliminate as many standing dead trees as possible from around the house in case they were being used as harborage by earwigs For a while things looked great The earwigs seemed to have gone away The next summer I received a phone call from Mrs Smith and she said the words that I never wanted to hear The earwigs are back To this day earwigs still become problematic there periodically Every spring we provide a specialized treatment at the home to help reduce the number of earwigs when they do show up and this has provided some relief Still the mystery of why they are there is still not solved PMP HATHORNE is technical director for Terminix Service Inc Columbia S C Contact him at pmpeditor@ northcoastmedia net CONTINUED FROM PAGE 86 PHOTO KEVIN HATHORNE The homeowners would sweep earwigs into piles for easy removal 88 September 2018 Pest Management Professional mypmp net