How can I stop earwigs from eating my dahlias? They’re munching on the petals and making the flowers look tatty even before they’ve fully opened. Is there an organically friendly way of preventing them? RG, Mayo
The common earwig (Forficula auricularia) can be found in many Irish gardens, especially in late summer/early autumn, and in fact is an important cog in the wheel as regards naturally controlling aphid populations on fruit trees and shrubs. These insects also feed on the larvae of the codling moth, a destructive pest of apple and pear trees.
Their name probably derives from a combination of the Old English words “ēare”, meaning “ear”, and “wicga”, meaning “insect” or “beetle”, and is based on a common, long-held belief that earwigs like to crawl into the human ear canal. Thankfully for gardeners, however, this is extremely unlikely to happen.
Unfortunately, these omnivorous insects do also like to sometimes graze on both the young leaves and flower buds of dahlias, as well as to hide themselves deep inside the petals of any dahlias with complex flowers such as pompons and decorative varieties. The flowers and young foliage of chrysanthemum, delphinium, Japanese anemone, viola, zinnia, lupin, and clematis are other favourites.
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Night feeders, you’ll typically only catch them in the act by shining a torch on the afflicted plants. Once morning comes, they’ll then retreat to hide in a suitably dark, cool, dampish spot nearby. When very high numbers of them are feeding on plants, you’ll also sometimes spot their excrement (small, dark and cylindrical), which is certainly off-putting.
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The only organically acceptable solution is to trap and then dispose of them far away from your dahlia plants. Or if you have the stomach for it (I don’t), to drop the trapped earwigs into a bucket of soapy water. To do this, stuff small pots with straw or crumpled strips of newspaper and then place them upturned near the base of the plants. Rolls of newspaper, fashioned into a rough cylindrical shape, will also work. Examine these traps each morning, carrying them away from the plants and then carefully shaking any earwigs out of them before putting them in situ again.
