Earwigs are tough to kill

During the past few months we have been testing adult female earwigs with various insecticides using a petri dish bioassay method.  We are finding that very few insecticides kill them quickly and completely: Lorsban Advanced and Danitol worked the best.  There is a spinosad bait called Seduce that is very effective in the laboratory but did not work in a field trial because the earwigs were up in the trees and did not feed on it.  We are continuing to study this product to find out when and how to apply it to make it effective. We have also found that if we leave earwigs in petri dishes without food and water they can live for more than 3 months!  These are very tough insects.

The filter paper or leaf disk is treated with insecticide or water to test the response of the earwig

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