Notice more ears than normal? You might be right

Have you noticed more earwigs and other pesky bugs this summer? Don’t call in pest control just yet.

The warmer weather we’ve seen over the winter means there are actually more earwigs and other critters.

“I think this summer, there’s going to be a lot more insects in general, just because the winter was warm, a lot of insects that would have been killed by it or at least reduced in numbers by the colder temperatures were able to survive throughout the winter,” said Aaron Fairweather, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Guelph who focuses on entomology.

“They’re only going to be more abundant, and ears are certainly an example of that.”

Throughout the winter, the adult earwigs die and the eggs are left throughout the cold months. A certain percentage will be killed by the colder temperatures, “but because of how warm it was, a lot more of them will persist into the next year.”

The same is true of carpenter ants and queen wasps, although some insects, such as fireflies, may decline in population due to warmer weather drying out vernal pools (areas of forest temporarily flooded in the spring).

“You might see them more often in your gardens and such. They can be a nuisance, but they are still quite beneficial.”

Earwigs are omnivores that will feed on anything from fruits and vegetables to decaying organic material, worms, snails and other pests.

“They’re cleaning up the environment, they’re taking care of a lot of those dead bodies and fungi and decaying matter,” Fairweather said.

They are also one of the only insects that show parental care – even more so than reptiles.

“If you find ears, often they will be wrapped around the eggs and try to protect them. And they even feed their babies personally,” they said.

However, they’re not the most popular of insects and can be intimidating with their pincers and name – although Fairweather assures them they don’t pierce human skin, they’re not actually interested in your ears and probably won’t infest your house, even if you see more much more than normal.

This is because they need cool, moist soil to lay their eggs.

“You’ll only really find them in dark, dirty places. So you might find them in the basement. They will do no harm to your house. And they’re not very abundant—because of the way they reproduce, they won’t actually grow in your house.”

Fairweather suggests if you see one inside your home, just pick it up and put it back outside.

“People give them a bad name when they don’t do that much for people,” they said.