Dahlia (Dahlia)-Earwig

Primarily European earwig (Forficula auricularia)

Pest description and damage This introduced, nocturnal insect can devastate seedlings, flowers, leaves, and fruit. Adults are brown in color and roughly 0.5 inch long. Earwigs are recognized by the pinchers and are reviled by gardeners when the insect drops out of cut flowers onto a table. The adults are winged, but the hind wings are folded under the short and stubby forewings. Immature earwigs resemble adults but are smaller, lack wings and may be paler in color. However, earwigs are also beneficial feeding on aphids and other small insects, scavenging dead bugs and plant debris. Unfortunately, earwigs can chew irregular holes in leaves at the base of flower petals and other plant tissues. Earwigs are often worse in dry climates or dry years west of the Cascades.

For biology, life history, monitoring and management

See "Earwig" in:

Management-chemical control

See Table 2 in: