Expert: Walter Hintz - 7/5/2006

Question
Do you know what kind of bug this is and do I need to worry about it. I'm not sure if it's killing the trees or not. It seems to be in many trees too, my parents also. I've not seen this type of bug before.
It's brown and has pinchers on it's tail end. Appears under bark and I've even found a couple in the house.

Thanks, Connie

Answer
Hi Connie;  These are Earwigs, so called because they were thought to crawl into the ears of sleepers and lay eggs: nonsense of course.Nobody but biologists like earwigs because they are rather ferocious looking and can give a little nip with those defensive pincers on the back end if you pick them up but they are really harmless to people.
They often live under tree bark but do no damage to trees. In large numbers they can cause damage to some plants but they feed mainly on decomposing material and live and dead insects.
If you see too many in the house just stomp on them or sweep them up otherwise just leave them alone.  Do not be tempted to buy earwig killers or bring in exterminators.  The poisons are worse than the bugs.
 Strangely enough I found one in my outdoor grill when I opened it up the other day.
 Type in earwig at google and let me know is this what they are.