What Eats Earwigs

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What Eats Earwigs? (Nature’s Pest Control Hit List)

If you’ve ever found an earwig lurking in your garden and thought, “What’s stopping these creepy critters from taking over the world?”—the answer is simple: predators.

While earwigs look tough with their menacing pincers, they’re basically the fast food of the insect world—a crunchy, protein-packed snack for a variety of creatures.

🦅 1. Birds: The Original Pest Control

Birds are top-tier earwig predators, especially insect-eating species like:

  • Robins
  • Blackbirds
  • Sparrows
  • Starlings

They love snacking on earwigs, plucking them straight from gardens, mulch beds, and even under flowerpots. For birds, earwigs are like garden-fresh French fries—crispy, easy to catch, and full of protein.

Pro tip: Want natural earwig control? Install a bird feeder. Nature’s pest control with wings.

🦎 2. Lizards: Tiny Dinosaurs with a Taste for Earwigs

In warmer climates, lizards are earwig-eating machines. Common garden lizards like:

They patrol gardens like miniature Jurassic Park raptors, snapping up earwigs without hesitation. Fast, agile, and always hungry—these reptiles make great pest control allies.

🐸 3. Frogs and Toads: The Silent Assassins

Frogs and toads may look cute, but to earwigs, they’re silent, sticky-tongued assassins. They’ll sit quietly, blending into the environment, and then—BAM!—one quick flick of the tongue, and the earwig is gone.

If you’ve got a pond or damp garden area, frogs and toads are probably already on the job.

🕷️ 4. Spiders: The Web Warriors

Earwigs are often caught in the crosshairs of spiders—literally.

  • Orb-weavers
  • Jumping spiders
  • Wolf spiders

These eight-legged predators trap earwigs in sticky webs or hunt them down with stealth and speed. Earwigs might have pincers, but they’re no match for venomous fangs and a well-placed web.

🐜 5. Ants: The Tiny, Ruthless Army

Surprise! Even ants eat earwigs—especially when they’re outnumbered (which, let’s face it, is always).

  • Carpenter ants
  • Fire ants
  • Army ants

Ants will gang up on an earwig, overwhelm it, and carry it back to the colony as a protein prize. It’s like watching a microscopic heist movie—except the loot is bug meat.

🦗 6. Predatory Insects: Bugs Eating Bugs (Inception, Much?)

Earwigs aren’t safe from their own kind, either. Other predatory insects like:

  • Ground beetles
  • Centipedes
  • Praying mantises

…all see earwigs as a tasty treat. Even other earwigs will sometimes cannibalize each other when food is scarce. Talk about “eat or be eaten.”

🦔 7. Mammals: Yes, Even the Fuzzy Ones

Small mammals like:

  • Shrews
  • Mice
  • Bats
  • Hedgehogs

…will happily munch on earwigs when they stumble across them. To them, an earwig is just another crunchy snack in the great outdoors buffet.

🚫 Bonus: What DOESN’T Eat Earwigs?

  • Humans: (Hopefully.)
  • Large pets: Dogs and cats might play with them, but earwigs aren’t exactly gourmet fare.
  • Fish: Unless you’re hand-feeding them (which is weird), earwigs aren’t part of the aquatic diet.

✅ How to Attract Natural Earwig Predators to Your Garden

  • Add bird feeders and birdbaths.
  • Create lizard-friendly habitats with rocks and hiding spots.
  • Install small ponds to encourage frogs and toads.
  • Reduce pesticide use—it kills helpful predators too.

Let nature do the dirty work while you sit back and watch the food chain in action.

🌿 Tired of Earwigs? Let’s Get Rid of Them for Good.

Click here for proven methods to control earwigs and reclaim your garden.