So what are earwigs FOR? Anyone know?

[AliceSprings123]

Now, I know spiders eat flies/mossies etc, but earwigs?
Was one on my soapdish this morning, running round and round the rim like he was in training for the Earwig Olympics.
So I screamed (as you do), removed the soap and tipped it into the lav. And flushed.
Can earwigs swim?

[ipswichwitch]

Calling them earwigs is not helpful. DS2 is autistic and now is obsessed with the thought that they’ll go in his ear and eat his brain -thanks MIL for telling him that old wives tale 🙄 He now thinks that means he’ll become a zombie and be doomed to an eternity of eating other peoples brains.

[AntonMeyersNo1Fan]

@penguinwithasuitcase very common in our garden, apparently I breed them in my peg pot based on the numbers in there. Or perhaps it’s an earwig dating club. Anyway, lots of them peg pot.

[TheSilveryPussycat]

My DGM hated them. Each night she would hang old cloths on the washing line, then each morning shake out the earwigs and stamp on them

[SwanShaped]

If you want to find out more crazy insects, David Attenborough’s Life in the Undergrowth documentaries are amazing.

[penguinwithasuitcase]

[quote AntonMeyersNo1Fan]@penguinwithasuitcase very common in our garden, apparently I breed them in my peg pot based on the numbers in there. Or perhaps it’s an earwig dating club. Anyway, lots of them peg pot.[/quote]
Ah... no peg pot here. That must be it!

[BlusteryLake]

What about nits? Now they are a creature that really don't seem to have a purpose other than revenue generation for the makers of nit shampoo....

[Newfluff]

@GlutenFreeGingerCake

Just looked up earwigs apparently the name actually comes from the belief they will go in your ear, although this is a myth. Another interesting fact is that they are good mothers who guard their eggs and feed the baby earwigs once they hatch.

Don't, I found our that woodlice were maternal and now I struggle to repot or move plants

[Newfluff]

@ipswichwitch

Calling them earwigs is not helpful. DS2 is autistic and now is obsessed with the thought that they’ll go in his ear and eat his brain -thanks MIL for telling him that old wives tale 🙄 He now thinks that means he’ll become a zombie and be doomed to an eternity of eating other peoples brains.

I was told this as a NT child, and I thought the same

[TonTonMacoute]

I love my earwigs - so long as they stay out in my garden. We have several apple trees and the earwigs prey on insects which damage the apples.

I am actually now participating in a University of Sussex research project called Earwiggo!

[AliceSprings123]

I call woodlice baby armadillos. ahhhh
Who couldn't love a baby armadillo?

[OooPourUsACupLove]

Do flies have a purpose

Depends on who is asking. From the flies' point of view they certainly do!

[Newfluff]

@AliceSprings123

I call woodlice baby armadillos. ahhhh
Who couldn't love a baby armadillo?

We call them chucky pigs but thought people wouldn't understand

[ClaudiaWankleman]

So you live on the top floor of a highrise, broken lift, and it's the w/end so no maintenance peeps on duty.
So, if they don't swim, do they fly?

They’re so light, I reckon the air resistance would slow them down sufficiently to not hit the ground too hard. Plus their exoskeleton is surprisingly tough. I would bet it would survive.

[TheABC]

@debwong

What are we for?

Cat slaves. Obviously.
If you want to get technical, we are sentient dust, so I like to think of myself as a tiny contributor to the universe's existential crisis.

[Lorw]

I have an absolute fear of them as was told from being very small that they’d climb into your ear and eat your brain 😂 ridiculous to be scared of them still tbh

[AliceSprings123]

I'm back from eating my dinner, so...you remember I wrote that I called woodlice baby armadillos? Well, i got that years ago from a vet. on r.4 who recounted that he'd once had a panicked call from a lady who'd found 3 baby armadillos in her greenhouse who must have escaped from nearby Dudley Zoo! She'd managed to put 2 of them in a shoe box with airholes punched in the lid, but the 3rd had completely escaped - HELP! So the vet drove round, to find....ta!da! 2 woodlice. But the 3rd was no-where to be found.
So, wouldn't you call awoodlouse a baby armadillo after reading that?

[IloveJudgeJudy]

They bite

[Timeisavirtue]

We used to have earwigs in our old flat when I was younger, that along with silver fish... they are another thing that mystifies me, but I can watch them all day long.... what do wood lice even do 🤷🏼‍♀️

[MrsFlinch]

@IloveJudgeJudy

They bite

I agree they’re nippy little fuckers been bitten a couple of times….it hurts!

I’d have flushed the bloody thing down the loo as well, horrible things!

[MrsFlinch]

@AliceSprings123

I call woodlice baby armadillos. ahhhh
Who couldn't love a baby armadillo?

we call these crunchy beetles.

As I can categorically confirm, yes, they do in fact crunch!……when eaten by your over zealous 1 year old!😁

[wallpapering]

Never seen one in my parents garden but over run with them in mine, horrible and they nip the kid mainly.

They get in every nook and cranky of garden furniture.

Wouldn’t of flushed it as that means picking it up, flip flop bam bam followed by hoover

[Cassandrainthenight]

We have millions of earwigs in the garden and I hate them, they have been eating all my young wisteria shoots and I struggle to get it going for three years because of that. Also ate loads of my dahlias and sunflowers - can't grow them succesfully because of that. Actually they eat a lot of plants I've been growing instead of going for dead plant matter as somebody upthread said. They are NOT harmless. I know where a million of them lives (in the wooden box next to the rotary washing line! and of course they crawl in the washing!) and I could kill them all in one go but I won't, even though they do make my skin crawl. I am fine with spiders though. And I hate flies more than earwigs!

My bigger problem is what to do about wasps? From the end of July towards the end of September(October if it's warm) I can't open the kitchen door or eat in the garden, immediately get wasps flying in/landing on food. I don't understand where they come from, and it seriously spoils just being able to get on with daily life (want some fresh air in the kitchen! my window can't be opened).

[Cassandrainthenight]

That's earwig damage. Looking at forever gnawed on wisteria outside my back door pisses me off but I don't want to use pesticides...

[Coffeeandcake36]

I had a run in with earwigs the other day a load of them in the washing I picked then up with tissue and put them out the window really paranoid now when I put clean clothes on now I don't fancy an earwig in my knickers

[longwayoff]

They're for scaring people. That's their purpose.