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Subject: Re: earwigs
From: pippinospam@mindspring.com (pippi)
Organization: MindSpring Enterprises
Date: Mon, 31 May 99 15:21:42
Message-ID: <MOD$990531.21743@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$990531.17264@rec.gardens.ecosystems>



On 31 May 1999 13:18:17 -0400, in rec.gardens.ecosystems, Bill Robinson
said:

>
>Margaret Simms wrote:
>
>>How can I get rid of earwigs. They are eating all of my basil.
>>I've heard that you should "trap" them, but how?
>
>Earwigs are mostly beneficial. They are omnivorous and eat
>plant material, other animals, and damaged or decaying organic
>material. When they go after healthy plant material, it is usually
>limited to tender seedlings. They just look so fierce! They tend
>to get blamed for damage caused by other critters.

Not in my case! my little garden is surrounded on all 5 sides by
chickenwire. The only things that can get in there are bugs. When I
caught a large number of earwigs, most of my problem was gone.

>"Common-Sense Pest Control" by Olkowski & Olkowski says,
>"Earwigs are easy to trap. In the home garden, containers such
>as tuna-fish cans that hold 1/2 inch (13 mm) of vegetable oil or
>moistened bread crumbs can serve as traps without any poison.
I put soy sauce in the oil and leftover bits of canned cat food in mine.
Caught 20 in one can the first night. Now I have my little garden
surrounded by little cat food cans. :-)

--
pippi
zone 9/USDA 9b?