Are earwigs harmful to worms?

18 years ago

I had an outdoor wooden container last year that did well for months, but when I went to harvest..most of the worms were gone, but there were a lot of earwigs present. Now maybe I just let things go too long and that's what did them in, but I'm starting a new bin this year and am debating whether to put it back outdoors or keep it in.

I've read earwigs eat worms and I've read that they are harmless to them. What has been your experience?

(I used a wooden box with lid/lots of vents covered in mesh with peat and shredded paper in a shaded raised spot; not to moist but possibly not moist enough)

thanks

Featured Answer

dkerr60012

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

Presently I am raising E. hortensis in indoor plastic bins. Just
recently, about two months ago, I harvested a few hundred worm eggs from
several bins and placed them together in their own separate bin. I
wanted to watch them grow from little ones to mature adults, separated
from the larger mixed populations. I mixed the eggs into the top inch of
bedding and kept that topped with a moist paper towel. Right away they
began hatching, every few days I would find some clinging to the
underside of the paper towel. After the first couple of weeks there was
quite a population of tiny new worms. My plans were progressing as I’d
hoped. Then one day, I suddenly couldn’t find any of the “babies”, and
the number of unhatched eggs, that had been easy to spot, were also much
rarer to find. In order to investigate the situation I dumped the
entire contents, approximately a half-gallon, total, into a transparent
plastic shoebox tray (without drainage holes) and carefully examined
everything, bit by bit. I located only about two dozen remaining
unhatched eggs, and only two baby worms. There had been dozens, or more,
that were growing. BUT, I did find a single, solitary, and very FAT
earwig. It was my only suspicious suspect to this mysterious
disappearance. I dispatched it, then reassembled the bin, adding a new
batch of eggs in an attempt to continue the original effort. If the
earwig were the culprit, hopefully other earwigs won’t repeat this
travesty.

Perhaps earwigs are not a threat to adult worms, but it seems they can do damage to eggs and baby worms.

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Comments (7)

marshall2000
18 years ago
Earwigs don't eat worms. It must have been something else.
squeeze
18 years ago
as marshall said, other critters in the decomposer community don't bother worms, but being too dry will, and that will also attract the bugs

Bill
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billc-2007
18 years ago
I have several bugs in my outdoor bins, I pick out the slugs, earwigs, pill bugs and centapedes. There are always a few others. I especially hate the solder flies. Those larve eat like pigs and poop liquid. I put in a half Zukini and they all jump in and I can remove them that way. I know some like them but I prefer the redworms.
I don't know why all your worms were gone, I had this happen before but I did not get more worms, I just put in more bedding and food and eventually they came back. I don't mean they left, they must have died out, but eggs hatched and a few that were left made a rebound and established it again. I've got four compost bins and two have hardly no worms left and two have tons of worms? I feed them all on the top layers. I did put in oak leaves in the top of the two that are doing the best and that must have had something to do with it.
When you get started in your next bin again, I would keep some of the castings and mix it with your bedding and plant zukinies, after two weeks you won't want to eat them every day anyway and shred this for the worms, they like it as much as pumpkins. That will get them off to a good start. I've got a good recipe for zukes too.

4 cups Zukini sliced or you can grade it
1 cup carrot sliced
1 cup celery sliced
1/2 cup onion diced

satae them until slightly soft

mix in casarole dish, 4 eggs, 1 cup Bisquick, 1 can of chilies, 1/2 cup veg oil, 1 cup cheese, 1 tsp oregano, mix all together and put into a 350 degree oven for aprx 40 minutes I also put cheese on top for a golden cheese crust on top.
When I make this it's the main corse. DO you have a recicpe for me? Thats OK this will have some raw vegetables for the worms, the ends. Bill C

PS with your out door bin you are probably right about not enough water. I always had to sprinke in some water on top and keep wet cardbard over them in summer here in North Calif. I am looking at the thirft stores to get a food processer so I can mix the scraps and fruit up and all that liquid will help keep them moist. When I chop them it seems like it gets drier. Good Luck! Bill C
growsveges
Original Author
18 years ago
thanks for the advice all! I'll try again outdoors but make sure to keep the bedding moister and not pin the worm deaths on the earwigs.
Bill C; thanks for the recipe; I love zukes and don't mind the soldier fly larvae in my compost bin - they are fast workers, luckily I haven't had to deal with them in the worm bin.
dott
10 years ago
The real villains in my bins aren't earwigs. I almost never get those. What I do get are these little 'peeper' frogs, and the occasional ravenous gecko. The frogs especially will wipe out even a big worm population in no time, pigging out when the worms rise to the top at night after a day of rain. We had a very wet week awhile back and when it cleared, I found no less than 6 peepers in one bin, and 3 of them in a second bin, all fat and sassy! The other bug very bad on worms (and you, too) are the tiny red mites that will infest a bin if it is too dry or has been fed too much grain, especially corn meal or flour products. Red mites seem to bite the worms and drink them dry like vampires to wash down the grains.
mathias aisi
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
something to keep in mind is that the earwigs are scavengers so even if its unlikely they may and have been known to eat the eggs of other insects. with this in mind they may have an impact on your worm population what i recommend is making a small indoors worm farm with two ice cream tubs to use to continuously top up your worm population.