Sitting amongst the heat and sun of the Sonoran Desert is the town of Gilbert, Arizona. While residents of this fantastic town may enjoy the harsh desert conditions, there is a pest in the area that does not. Without proper pest control in Gilbert, homeowners may find creepy-looking earwigs making a beeline for their property, seeking relief from the intense desert heat.
What Does An Earwig Look Like?
Earwigs are insects with a bad reputation through no fault of their own. While they may look “other-worldly,” they are pretty harmless. The earwig’s distinctive look helps homeowners easily identify them.
Four characteristics of earwigs in Gilbert include the following:
- They are long (measuring about 5/8 of an inch), slender, and flat.
- Their body color is typically dark red and brown; their legs have brown/yellow banding.
- They have forceps (pincers) that can be 3/16 to 3/8 of an inch long allocated at the end of their abdomen.
- They have antennae.
Even though earwigs are not considered dangerous to people, their look is quite imposing. They don’t spread disease or hurt people, but nobody wants them shimmying around in their homes. When they enter homes en masse, the best way to get rid of earwigs is by employing What’s Bugging You Pest Control to chase them back outside.
What Do Earwigs Eat?
Earwigs are most comfortable living outdoors; most of their preferred food sources are outside. Their tastes can be satisfied with any number of different items.
Five foods earwigs will consume include:
- Small and injured plants
- Decaying plant matter
- Flowers, vegetables, and house plants (when indoors)
- Weak or dead insects
- Oily, greasy, sweet foods (when indoors)
While earwigs can mess up gardens, they do not pose any risks to humans. The worst they can do to humans is pinch (weak); sometimes, they emit a foul odor, but that’s more gross than harmful. Since their appearance can be daunting, it is best to get rid of earwigs by establishing preventative measures around your Gilbert home.
Five Helpful Tips To Keeping Earwigs Away
Homeowners will usually find earwigs indoors in damp, moist places like crawl spaces and basements. When outdoors, earwigs often turn up on or under leaves, in and around cracked pavement, under doormats, and beneath planters. Extensive dry spells (drought) and prolonged intense heat often cause earwigs to abandon their outdoor living accommodations and move indoors to cooler climates.
Here are five ways to help prevent earwig infestations in Gilbert:
- Install a gravel barrier around your foundation.
- Fix drainage issues around your yard; keep water from gutters and spigots away from your foundation.
- Fix leaking faucets and pipes inside your home.
- Use dehumidifiers in damp areas around your home to keep moisture levels down.
- Repair damaged weatherstripping around windows and doors, and use silicone-based caulking on ground-level gaps, crevices, and holes.
Despite all your precautions, a horde of earwigs may still invade your home if conditions are right. A great way to prevent an earwig infestation is by calling the pest control professionals at What’s Bugging You Pest Control.
How To Keep Earwigs Out Of Your Home For Good
While earwigs don’t qualify as a “dangerous pest,” they can certainly be a nuisance. They can also be quite disturbing to anyone living in your home. When homeowners find that the arid conditions outside are driving a large population of earwigs inside, it’s time to get help from What’s Bugging You Pest Control.
Our company has over 15 years of pest control experience, so dealing with the bugs and critters unique to the Gilbert climate is second nature to us. We tailor our earwig treatments to suit your specific needs and use high-quality, eco-friendly products. Don’t let earwigs “wig” you out. Call What’s Bugging You Pest Control for earwig control in Gilbert today, and we’ll chase these menacing-looking creatures away.