Despite their menacing pincers and creepy reputation, earwigs are mostly nuisance pests — but that doesn’t mean you want them crawling through your home. In Middle Tennessee’s warm, humid climate, they thrive outdoors and often invade homes after rain or when temperatures drop.

Active Seasons

Earwigs are most active from late spring through early fall, especially during periods of rain or high humidity. They frequently move indoors during summer storms or cool fall nights.

Lifespan

Earwigs typically live about one year, spending much of that time hiding during the day and emerging at night to feed.

Reproduction Rate

A female earwig can lay up to 60 eggs at a time, often in moist soil, mulch, or under debris. Multiple generations may develop in a single season, especially if conditions remain favorable.

How to Identify

• Appearance: Reddish-brown to dark brown, ½ to 1 inch long, with a slender body and forceps-like pincers on the back end.

• Behavior: Nocturnal and moisture-loving. Often found in bathrooms, basements, under sinks, and inside folded laundry or damp cardboard boxes.

• May enter homes through cracks, gaps in siding, or under doors.

Fun fact: Despite the old tale, earwigs don’t crawl into ears — but they do like dark, tight spaces.

Health Concerns

• Earwigs do not bite or spread disease, and their pincers rarely break the skin.

• However, their sudden appearances can be unsettling, especially in large numbers.

• In rare cases, they can trigger minor allergic reactions if crushed or handled.

Property Concerns

• Earwigs can damage young plants and seedlings in gardens.

• Indoors, they are a sign of excessive moisture and poor sealing — which may also invite mold, mildew, and other pests.

• Large infestations are difficult to control without treating the outdoor breeding grounds.

Why You Need Perimeter Pest

Earwigs may seem like a surface-level problem, but the truth is: if they’re getting in, something else is going on. Whether it’s foundation moisture, unsealed gaps, or hidden nesting areas, Perimeter Pest knows how to find the source and stop the invasion.

We treat both inside and out, helping to control earwigs before they become a crawling nuisance inside your home.

Don’t let damp weather lead to creepy surprises — let Perimeter Pest protect your Middle Tennessee home from earwigs and the problems they signal.