Species: European earwig (Forficula auricularia); Earwigs (order Dermaptera)
What to look for
- The pincers first. Penn State says the claw-like forceps at the end of the abdomen are the most distinguishing physical feature, straight-sided on most females and more pincer-like on males.
- Length. Penn State gives adult European earwigs as 5/8 inch (16 mm) long. Colorado State gives about 5/8 inch as well.
- Color. Dark reddish brown with a reddish head and yellow-brown legs. Brown with a reddish head.
- Male and female pincers differ. Penn State says male forceps measure 3/16 inch (5 mm) in some individuals and 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) in others. Colorado State says the male's cerci are more strongly curved than the female's.
- Young ones. Colorado State says immature earwigs look like adults but are smaller and lack fully developed wings.
- A second species in the south. Colorado State says the ring-legged earwig may be seen in the extreme southern part of the state and is readily identified by a band on the forelegs.
Where and when
Penn State says earwigs are active at night and hide by day in cracks and crevices, and that most species overwinter as adults with eggs laid in burrows in the ground. Colorado State says they hide in almost any dark, confined and rather moist space, indoors under rugs, potted plants and stacks of newspaper, outdoors under rocks and stacked wood, and that Colorado problems run from mid-July through mid-September.
Does it matter?
Colorado State calls earwigs mainly a nuisance, says the tales about ears and painful pinches have little basis in fact, and notes they have been known to cause a mildly painful bite when sat upon or handled. It also calls them potentially beneficial, since they feed on aphids, mites and insect eggs. Penn State says earwigs occasionally feed on plants but that garden damage is usually minimal, and recommends removing damp debris.
Related guides
- Camel cricket: A camel cricket is the humpbacked, wingless, long-legged cricket that jumps out of a basement corner.
- House centipede: The fast, many-legged thing in a bathroom is almost always a house centipede.
- Boxelder bug: A boxelder bug is a black true bug with thin red lines, about half an inch long, that gathers in numbers on the sunny side of a wall in autumn.