Do Earwigs Really Lay Eggs in Your Ears?
To answer the question of whether earwigs actually like to go in your ear to lay eggs
or not, we’ll start off talking about the mating habits of the earwig.
To make baby earwigs, the male grabs and holds onto the female and they, literally, bump
uglies.
The eggs may not fertilize immediately (the sperm can hang around for several months before
fertilizing the eggs), but ultimately they will.
At some point, the lady comes to her senses- no doubt realizing the male is super creepy
looking- and exiles him from the nest- yes, nest, that is not your ear.
Then she lays anywhere between 20 and 80 eggs.
After hatching, earwigs develop in a series of five stages, each grosser than the last.
The mother earwig, unlike most non-social insects, actually guards her young, at least
until they leave the nest after the first molt.
Throughout their development, earwigs retain that familiar handsome profile.
There seems to be a consensus that people have always thought the earwig would climb
in your ear if given a chance.
In fact, the name is thought by most etymologists to come from two Old English words that mean
“ear insect” (ēare wicga).
While humans may have long associated the insect with burrowing into ears, in reality
this almost never happens and even when it does, they aren’t going there to lay eggs
and burrow into your brain.
Earwigs simply like moist, dark places to hide, but they choose these places for day-time
hiding, not at night when you are presumably sleeping.
At night, they hunt for insects and plants to eat.
That being said, throughout history, there have been anecdotal reports of earwigs being
found inside people’s ears.
One story submitted to the Bug Doctor by a man known only as Frank, goes like this:
“At 3 am, my 8-year-old daughter awoke me from a sound sleep.
She was extremely upset.
For the preceding few minutes she had attempted to remove a creature crawling about in her
left external ear canal.
A light sleeper, she had been aroused by the ‘sound of little feet.’
Otoscopic examination revealed a dark brown mass near the tympanic membrane.
My brief discussion with her on the importance of proper hygiene was interrupted when I saw
the form move.
Then, bathed in brilliant illumination from the otoscope, a female earwig . . . measuring
20 mm in length, cautiously emerged, to the relief of insect, child and father.”
While this story may or may not be made up, it doesn’t seem too far fetched to think
at some point in human history, possibly many times, and earwig crawled into a person’s
ear canal.
As stated, there are many anecdotal stories, some even well documented, of this sort of
thing happening, along with similar occurrences from many other small insects.
Insects like exploring and if you let them crawl all over your body, eventually one might
dink around in your ear canal for a bit to see what’s there.
But regardless, once there, the female earwig certainly isn’t going to find it a good
environment to mate and nest.
If left alone in the ear, she also would not burrow into a person’s brain and lay her
eggs.
Besides the fact that the ear canal and brain wouldn’t make a very good nest, this simply
isn’t possible considering the amount of bone and other tissue the earwig isn’t equipped
to burrow through.
At best, the earwig can use their pincers on you, but even these aren’t strong enough
to do any real damage.
As for their often slimy appearance, leading some to believe that this is from earwax,
this likely comes from the damp crevices where they reside as well as the waxy secretions
from their abdominal gland.
Bonus Facts: • Nocturnal, earwigs come out to feed at
night.
They love decaying organic matter, like dead leaves, but they also eat a variety of other
insects including mites and aphids.
Omnivorous, they eat beneficial healthy plants, too.
Although there are nearly 2,000 different species of earwigs (why, God, why?), the one
most of us flinch from is the Forficula auricularia.
• If you are unlucky enough to have an earwig, or any other insect, crawl into your ear,
there are a few simple steps to removing it: o DON’T STICK ANYTHING IN YOUR EAR (not
a finger or a Q-Tip).
Poking at the insect may cause it to bite or sting.
o Lay your head flat, infested ear facing up.
Say a prayer to your higher power of choice that the insect will crawl out on its own.
If it doesn’t, proceed to step three.
o Have someone pour baby or olive oil in your ear, pulling the lobe as they pour.
For children, the lobe should be pulled backward and downward; for adults, it should be moved
backward and upward.
It is hoped the insect will drown, and then drain out
with the oil.